My three-year-old son and I have long been fans of Don Freeman’s Corduroy and A Pocket for Corduroy books. Corduroy is an inquisitive teddy bear whose understated adventures are charming and funny without sliding into cutesiness. More than anything else, the books are about the power of the friendship between the bear and his human friend Lisa. They also show racial diversity without being “about” diversity. Lisa is black, and the people she and Corduroy encounter are black, white, Hispanic, and Asian, but they are all simply part of the urban tapestry Corduroy encounters. Diversity is absorbed and accepted without being either forced or subsumed.
Freeman died in 1978, however, and the only additions to the Corduroy repertoire were a series of derivative tales geared down for toddlers, where Lisa was minimally present, if at all, and the illustrations a far cry from Freeman’s work. I was surprised, therefore, to find Corduroy Lost and Found at my local bookstore, looking for all intents and purposes like a Freeman original. It’s a new work, however, mimicking his style of prose and illustration. B. G. Hennessy, the author, was the art director for Freeman’s A Pocket for Corduroy. Jody Wheeler, the illustrator, is a new addition (though with over 40 unrelated books to her credit), but successfully imitates Freeman’s scratchboard drawings.
My son liked it just as much as the first two works. I thought the story was a touch less compelling than Freeman’s two, but only a touch. If I didn’t know it wasn’t one of his, I might not have guessed. If you have a child who likes Corduroy, this will be a welcome addition to your library. If you haven’t met the little bear with the green overalls yet, I encourage you to do so.
