Today's guest book review and Dads Reading Featured Post is from a good friend of ours here at Book Dads. John Cave Osborne is the author of the recently released book, Tales from the Trips (read our review here and author spotlight post), which chronicles his life as he morphed from carefree bachelor into the father of four in just thirteen months thanks to marrying a single mom then quickly conceiving triplets.
If you like what you read here from John today, check out more of his writing at his blog (www.johncaveosborne.com) over at the parenting blog Babble (www.babble.com/contributors/john-osborne/).
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Some children’s books are entertaining. Some are educational. Some provide top-notch illustrations. Some deliver wonderful morals. And some are iconic classics.
I love children’s books that offer any one of those things. But my very favorite children’s book — Corduroy, written and illustrated by Don Freeman — offers all of them.
The story begins when a little girl named Lisa falls in love with a bear named Corduroy. Lisa begs her mom to buy Corduroy for her. “Not today, dear,” her mom replies, citing that she’s already spent too much money not to mention the fact that the bear, whose overalls are missing a button, doesn’t even look new.
That night, after everyone had left the department store, Corduroy scampers off on an adventure to find a button that might make him more look more appealing. His journey takes him to a different floor — one which he mistakes for a palace given the number of tables, chairs, beds and lamps he finds.
But his search is cut short by a security guard who brings the bear back to his place on the toy-department shelf. The next morning Corduroy wakes up just as the first customer enters the store. That first customer is none other than Lisa, the girl from the day before. She tells Corduroy that her mom has agreed to let Lisa take him home, only Lisa has to buy him with her own money. Luckily, she had just enough in her piggy bank.
The last scene finds Corduroy and Lisa together in her modest apartment. The little girl's small room is nothing like the palace he had seen the night before. But to Corduroy, it's even better. It's a home.
The tale ends with Lisa sewing a button on her new bear — but not because she thinks he needs one, instead because she knows it will keep his overalls on and she believes that will make him more comfortable. Lisa and Corduroy share a long hug. “You must be a friend,” the bear says to the little girl. “I’ve always wanted to have a friend.”
The thread that weaves this story together is an earnest and beautiful one, and Freeman does not waste so much as a single word as he sews together his masterpiece. His illustrations are classic, managing to be both simple and detailed at once. At its core, the book is an essay on all that matters most.
Consider the following:
* Lisa shows the reader that the best things in life drive us to make sacrifices when she spends her savings to buy the bear she loves.
* Corduroy prefers Lisa’s tiny room to the spacious palace because one feels like home and the other is just a collection of material things.
* The little girl also cares more about how things feel as opposed to how things look, hence her immediate love for Corduroy as well as her desire to replace his button.
* It’s also worth noting that the book was written in 1968 — the same year that the great Dr. Martin Luther King was gunned down in Memphis — an era when racism was rampant. Lisa is an African American, yet that matters not one bit to the plot. Love sees no color, nor does Corduroy, or Lisa for that matter. The reader won't either. It's simply not what this book is about. Yet the fact that this tale is colorblind, oddly, is, indeed, part of the message the book delivers.
In short, Corduroy embodies most everything that I hope my kids will one day stand for. My triplets are just three and as such are obviously unable to fully grasp the depth and beauty of this masterpiece. Just like I couldn't when my parents first started reading it to me. But one day, I suspect, they will because Corduroy transcends the generations. Its simple messages are timeless and delivered lovingly, without an ounce of sanctimony.
The only problem I have with this book is getting through it without tearing up. And even that doesn’t bother me. I’d be worried if something this pure didn’t stir my emotions.
Like our review? Get your copy of Corduroy at Powells
Loved your review - sounds like the very thing that my kids would enjoy!
Read Aloud Dad
P.S. I may use one of your sentences for a future book review (but modified):
"The only problem I have with this book is getting through it without tearing up"
When I find a book I hate, I may use this version:
"The only problem I have with this book is getting through it without tearing IT up!"
This was an awesome review and I love your idea - good stuff!
Sounds good, but FYI: I had to plug my ears while reading your response. Why? Because I read a loud dad. (brought to you courtesy of tit for tat.)
@read aloud dad — yes, yes. feel free to use. but FYI: i had to cover my ears while reading your comment.
why? b/c i read a loud dad. (brought to you courtesy of tit-for-tat!)
LOL, zing!
Touché !
A loud dad