Corduroy, Child of the Sixties, and the Late Bloomer Earl

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reminds us that Corduroy, a picture-book classic by Don Freeman, turns forty this year.

"'Corduroy' taps into a persistent childhood fantasy," says Anita Silvey, children's-book expert and author of '100 Best Books for Children.' "Children know that when they leave the room, their toys have all kinds of adventures; this fantasy underlies 'Toy Story,' 'The Lonely Doll' and 'Corduroy.'

Freeman's Earl the Squirrel is another favorite of ours. On a web site devoted to Don Freeman's books, his son tells how the book came to be published some fifty years after it was written.

Both of these make great choices for a preschool or kindergarten read-aloud. 

Comments

[cloudscome]

We LOVE Corduroy!

[Kelly]

Susan: Thanks for posting an excerpt from this article.

I've thought a lot about Corduroy. It was probably my favorite book as a child. But, here's the thing: For me, the fantasy was being in the department store after it was closed. In other words, I identified with Corduroy, not with the little girl. It made perfect sense to me that Corduroy came to life. Of course he did!

[Susan T.]

Cloudscome, he's the greatest!

I think you're onto something, Kelly. Stuffed animals are so important to many little kids; it follows that of course the toys have lives.