[As an experiment last fall, I invited self-publishers to submit their best new titles for review. About a dozen heeded the call, and I am reviewing their books in this space.]

The Legend of Dust Bunnies: A Fairy’s Tale; written byMichelle R. Eastman; illustrated by Kevin Richter. Byway Press, 2014. 40pp. ISBN 978-0-9916244-8-5. Paper ed. 14.95.

This origin tale of dust bunnies posits that they are comfort objects for fairies, created by one lonely dust fairy boy who needed a friend. “To this very day, / all fairies have one, / a lovely Dust Bunny, / to join in their fun.” While the premise has possibilities, the verse that tells the story is unevenly metered and rhymed (and sometimes ungrammatical) and the quatrains don’t always serve to move the story forward. Full-page Photoshoppy illustrations have a lot going on, but while the scenes of neon-winged fairies buzzing about the house will have intrinsic appeal for some children, the composition is amateurish and the coloring lurid. R.S.