Corduroy, by Don FreemanFrom Bogey Bear
This is one of my all-time favorites.  Its a great book about a great bear!  While Corduroy is now a series of many books (by different authors) and he has even been animated, you can't beat the warm love that author/illustrator Don Freeman creates and shares with his 2 books about this toy bear.  I suggest reading the first book, Corduroy, to a bear cub or child and then sharing this book - I'm sure it will be one of their favorites!

Amazon.com Review
A Pocket for Corduroy is a delightful companion to Dan Freeman's beloved Corduroy. Lisa takes her teddy bear Corduroy to the Laundromat (not to be washed--just for company). When Lisa's mother warns her to take the things out of her pockets before washing them, Corduroy realizes with some consternation that he doesn't have any pockets! While poking around for pocket prospects, he crawls inside a bag of wet laundry. A complicated comedy of errors ensues, involving an artist, a temporary disrobing, and Swan Flakes (they look curiously like snow), until the touching denouement when Lisa sews a pocket on her best friend's green overalls and tucks his name inside. (Ages 3 to 8)

About the Author
Don Freeman was born in San Diego, California, in 1908. At an early age, he received a trumpet as a gift from his father. He practiced obsessively and eventually joined a California danceband. After graduating from high school, he ventured to New York City to study art under the tutelage of Joan Sloan and Harry Wickey at the Art Students' League. He managed to support himself throughout his schooling by playing his trumpet evenings, in nightclubs and at weddings.Gradually, he eased into making a living sketching impressions of Broadway shows for The New York Times and The Herald Tribune. This shift was helped along, in no small part, by a rather heartbreaking incident; he lost his trumpet. One evening, he was so engrossed in sketching people on the subway, he simply forgot it was sitting on the seat beside him. This new career turned out to be a near-perfect fit for Don, though, as he had always loved the theater. He was introduced to the world of Childrens' Literature, when William Saroyan asked him to illustrate several books.

Soon after, he began to write and illustrate his own books, a career he settled into comfortably and happily. Through his writing, he was able to create his own theater: "I love the flow of turning the pages, the suspense of what's next. Ideas just come at me and after me. It's all so natural. I work all the time, long into the night, and it's such a pleasure. I don't know when the time ends. I've never been happier in my life!" Don died in 1978, after a long and successful career. He created many beloved characters in his lifetime, perhaps the most beloved among them a stuffed, overall-wearing bear, named Corduroy. Don Freeman was the author and illustrator of many popular books for children, including Corduroy, A Pocket for Corduroy, and the Caldecott Honor Book Fly High, Fly Low. For more information about Don Freeman, please visit his website.

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