Module 2 (Part 1): Corduroy by Don Freeman
Citation:
Freeman,
D. (1968). Corduroy. New York City, NY: Viking
Press.
Summary:
Corduroy is about a stuffed Bear in a department store. He
had been there a long time when a little girl, Lisa, finally begs her mom to
bring him home. Lisa’s mom says no because he is missing a button, so Corduroy
goes off to find his lost button at night in the department store. He gets
stuck on the escalator and ends up in the furniture department. After a little
more adventure, the night guard finds Corduroy and puts him back on his shelf.
The next day Lisa comes back with her money to get Corduroy.
My Thoughts:
This is such a cute story. It’s a bit about adventure,
about fixing yourself, and about love. Corduroy tries to fix himself, doesn’t
end up where he is supposed to be, doesn’t end up fixing himself, but finds love
anyway. I love this because it is one of the few classic children’s books that
does not have some sort of creepy element in it when you read it as an adult,
but just more meaning.
Professional Reviews:
“A bear missing a button looks shopworn, so
Corduroy sets out after the department store closes to find his. Up an
escalator ("I think I've always wanted to climb a mountain") onto a
floor filled with tables and chairs and rows and rows of beds ("I guess I've
always wanted to live in a palace") where he finds a mattress button that
pulls off with a POP, tumbling him into a table lamp. The crash brings the
night watchman who returns Corduroy to his shelf, still unbuttoned. But a
little girl wants him badly enough to empty her piggy bank and he goes home to
a bed just the right size and, to make him more comfortable, a button to fasten
his shoulder strap. Corduroy and Lisa break the spell by talking to each other
but otherwise it's the sort of predicament that children recognize, made more
poignant by the plea in Corduroy's eyes.”
Kirkus. (2012). Corduroy. Kirkus Review. Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/
How To Use This In the Library:
This is a great storytime book. One idea, outside of
storytime, is to have a Stuffed Animal Sleepover in the library. Read Corduroy
to the children and their stuffed animals, then have them leave their stuffed
animals overnight. Take pictures of the
animals going on adventures in the library, just like corduroy did in
the book, then show the kiddos the pictures, maybe even have them create a
story about the night in the library using the pictures.
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