A book review in the Press Herald today discusses the book, The Dreaming Game, A Portrait of a Passionate Life by Philip B., Jr. Kunhardt. Kunhardt's book is a tribute to his mother, Dorothy Meserve Kunhardt who is best known for the best selling children's book, Pat the Bunny. Dorothy was a also a published Lincoln scholar and student of the Civil War. Carl Sandburg was a friend. She was collaborating on a book about Matthew Brady when she passed away in 1979.
Her first book, "Junket Is Nice," was published by Harcourt Brace & Co. in 1933 and delighted reviewers such as Franklin P. Adams of the New York Herald Tribune and Katharine White of The New Yorker. She said it was "exactly what children like."
Five more of Dorothy's books for children were published before the multimedia "Pat the Bunny" became the most sought-after juvenile title of 1940. It was based on eight simple activities her daughter Edith adored and the reader could interact with. There was a bunny to pat, a peak-a-boo cloth, a squeaky ball, a mirror, Daddy's scratchy face, a tiny book, Mummy's ring, and waving "Bye bye."
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