Corduroy: Modern Fanasy

The book "Corduroy" by Don Freeman is about a bear for sale in a mall waiting to be taken home one day. One day, he is seen by a little girl shopping with her mom. The little girl's name is Lisa and she wants to buy Corduroy and take him home that day. When she asks her mom, her mom tells her that they have spent too much money that day and that he is missing a button anyways. Corduroy had no idea that he was missing a button so later that night after everyone had left, he decides to climb off the shelf and find himself a new button. Everything in the mall is new to him and he really likes all of his new experiences. The escalator that takes him up a floor is a mountain, the furniture section is a place, and finally on a bed he finds buttons. The problem is that the buttons are all sewn down tight and he can not get the button off. He pulls and pulls until it popped off and he went flying backwards. While in the air, he knocks over a lamp and makes a lot of noise. The security guard heard the crash and went to go find out who made the noise. To his surprise, he found Corduroy. So the security guard took him back down to the toy store and set Corduroy back on the shelf for the night. In the morning, Corduroy woke up to see the little girl Lisa smiling at him, she took him home right then and there. Once at his new home, Lisa had a little bed for him and even sew a new button on for him.
"Corduroy" is a classic book yet I am not aware of any awards it has won. There are good words to use for vocabulary with the class and it can lead to discussion about new experiences students have had or want to have. It would be great to read to the class as a read aloud and have following activities to follow it. The class could bring in their favorite stuffed animal for show and tell or they could do a write up about their favorite stuffed animal and how they got it. Lisa, the little girl in the story is African American which was unusual for the time the book was published. This can help bring diversity into the classroom literature which can be difficult. There is a squeal to "Corduroy" written by Don Freeman which is "A Pocket for Corduroy." It can be fun to have a short series to read to the class and they go together very well. You could even have the students take the second book home to read with their parents.
Freeman, Don (1968). Corduroy. New York, NY: Puffin Books.