The Collectors (Cork and Fuzz) - Hardcover

Dori Chaconas was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1938. The second child in a family of seven, Dori fell into the role of storyteller, nursery rhyme singer, and general entertainer for her siblings. She claims she learned about story pacing early. If the story action lagged, her fidgety audience would either scatter or start a poking war.

She has been married to Nick, her high school sweetheart, for 44 years. Everyone says the romance will last. They raised four daughters, and are now enjoying three grandsons—especially Grandpa, having been outnumbered by women all those years.

When their daughters were young, Dori wrote for them. She published three picture books and more than fifty stories in children's magazines. In the 70's, her interest turned to yarn embroidery design and she sold designs to major needlework companies and national magazines.

In 1997, Dori started writing stories again, partly to keep her grandsons from fidgeting or starting poking wars. Her stories reflect the warmth of family life. Dori gives credit to her parents for giving her a strong sense of family, and to her children and grandchildren for keeping it alive.

The fourth easy-to-read chapter book about Cork, the short muskrat, and Fuzz, the tall possum, once again tells a warm story about best friends who are different and sometimes scrappy, but still like each other and have lots of fun. In this book, the “stones” Fuzz collects hatch into ducklings, and the feather he has causes big mother duck to drag him to her nest. Cork, of course, comes to the rescue. McCue’s clear, lovely line-and-watercolor pictures show the mischievous, furry friends sometimes a little tense, but still “collecting laughs all the way home.” Grades K-2. --Hazel Rochman