The Chronic Consumer

I recently bought the children’s book Corduroy by Don Freeman for my son. He saw the cover and was immediately intrigued by the cute bear with the missing button, so he asked me if he could get the book. Since I vaguely remembered reading the book as a child and liking the story, I went ahead and complied.

Well, it didn’t take long for this book to become one of my son’s favorite bedtime stories! He has requested it every night for the past few weeks, and even takes it off his shelf and looks at the pictures by himself during his quiet play time — which is certainly more than I ever hoped to get out of the book.

Corduroy tells the simple story of a stuffed bear that sits on the shelf of a busy toy store day after day. None of the shoppers bother looking at him because he’s missing a button on his overalls and is therefore not perfect. But one day a girl notices Corduroy and sets her heart on bringing him home. She asks her mother, but her mother says they’ve spent too much money already and points out Corduroy’s “flaw.”

However, the girl comes back the very next day and purchases Corduroy with money she had saved up by herself. She brings the bear home, sews on a new button for him, and we can presume that they both live happily ever after.

This is a nice story for toddlers and young children, especially because the girl says, “I like you just the way you are.” Everyone is special, even if they’re not “perfect.”

If you’ve got young children on your Christmas list, you might want to give this book a look!