"A Pocket for Corduroy" by Don Freeman is a sequel to his original book "Corduroy." In this book, the story of Corduroy's life with his new friend and owner, Lisa, continues. It begins one day in the summer with a trip to the laundromat with Lisa's mother. At this point, Lisa takes Corduroy everywhere with her, so of course he came along as well. While Lisa went to help her mother with laundry, she told Corduroy to stay seated in a chair and wait for her. Corduroy overheard Lisa's mother telling her to make sure her pockets were empty so that her belongings would not get ruined. Realizing he did not have a pocket, Corduroy jumped off the chair to go find something to use to make a pocket for himself. On his search, he found a large bag that was filled with wet laundry. Thinking it was a cave, Corduroy climbed in. When it came time for the laundromat to close and Lisa and her mother to leave, Corduroy was no where to be found. Lisa's mother told her that they would have come back tomorrow to find him. After they had left, an artist, who's bag of laundry Corduroy had crawled into. Seeing how wet Corduroy was, the artist decided that the least he could do was dry his outfit for him. Once his clothes were dry, the artist redressed Corduroy and by this time the, the laundromat was closing and the artist left. Once the lights were out, started to look for material to make a pocket again. He ran across some laundry soap and knocked it over, Corduroy thought it was snow as he slid down with the soap. He fell down into an empty laundry basket and went to bed. The next day, as soon as the laundromat opened, Lisa was there to find Corduroy. As soon as she found Corduroy, she asked him why he did not wait for her. Corduroy told Lisa that he had wanted a pocket and went looking for one. So as soon as they got home, Lisa made a pocket for him.
I think this is a fun book for students because they already know the characters and they get to continue Corduroy's story. Also, the idea that if Corduroy had simply asked Lisa for a pocket, then he would have not gotten left at the laundromat. The problem I have with the book it that Corduroy did not listen to directions and had a fun time at the laundromat until he fell into the basket. That is not that great of an example for students to follow. Although it does show students that if they let others know what they want or need, they can get help. I do not know if this book has won any awards or not but it has been around for a long time and I think it will always be a classic book for young children to read.
Freeman, Don (1978). A Pocket for Corduroy. New York, NY: Puffin Books.
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