Considering Corduroy

Susan's (Chicken Spaghetti) post about Corduroy had me thinking off and on all day about my favorite childhood bear. Corduroy really was my number one--the book I loved most of all. I remember finding it in my third grade classroom, long after I had given up picture books and feeling like I found an old friend.

Susan links to an article written by Karen MacPherson about Corduroy's 40th birthday. In the article, MacPherson talks about the magic of Corduroy and why children still fall for his world:

• "'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.'"

While I agree with MacPherson and Silvey here that toys coming to life is a persistent childhood fantasy, I am wondering if I'm alone when I contend that this was not the fantasy that drew me to Corduroy. As a child, I didn't wish dolls and toys had a life of their own when we left the room, I believed it with all my heart. My sister and I used to lay traps for our toys--traps that were always tripped, by the way. What drew me to Corduroy was another fantasy altogether: being in a magical world ordinarily forbidden to you. In this case, the department store after hours. I followed Corduroy up the escalator, to the furniture section where he topples a lamp, wondered about where else he could go in this secret world.

So, forty years on--what draws you to Corduroy?
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Asides:

I also loved Lisa as Freeman renders her. She's warm, resourceful, and, I thought, she looked more like me than most picture book heroines of the era.

The Lonely Doll is also a book I was intrigued by as a child. And it's a subject for another post. The Lonely Doll taps into fantasy in entirely different, hopefully latent, way.

Poetry Friday article

Hey! Our very own Susan Thomsen has an article up on Poetry Friday at PoetryFoundation.org. Don't miss it! Susan calls Poetry Friday an "online literary happy hour, without the drinks." I raise my glass of ice tea to you, Susan, for such a lovely article.*

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And to you, Anne, for your job as editor of the children's pages at PoetryFoundation.org.

Monday morning notes

I'm busy this morning editing the March edition of The Edge of the Forest, but don't miss the newest 7-Imp interview with Susan Thomsen of Chicken Spaghetti.

The Nearest Book

Here's fun meme that allows me to make an announcement at the same time: Monster Blood Tatto rocks.

I'll explain why the annoucement after the meme. Meme via Susan at Chicken Spaghetti.

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next four sentences on your blog along with these instructions.
5. Don't you dare dig around for that "cool" or "intellectual" book on your shelves. (I know you were thinking about it.) Just pick up whatever is closest.

Here's what I found:

It was enough water to quench any thirst and not so far down the road that Rossamünd would have perished before he found it. This really struck him: had he pushed on, he might have been all right on his own after all. He thought life's twistings very odd.

Europe chatted gaily at first.

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Okay, why the annoucement. I received Monster Blood Tattoo from an editor, who claimed it to be very special. So, I picked it up on his recommendation, despite its cover.

It's not that the cover is badly drawn. In fact the design is quite good. But who does it appeal to? Call me gender biased, but, to me at least, it screams 15-year-old boy.

In reality, Monster Blood Tattoo is a fabulous fantasy (ages 9 and up), one I'm enjoying greatly at the moment. I'll tell you more when I post a review, but it's really, really good.