Corduroy's Party

This teddy bear has an interesting backstory.  He was 'born' from the mind of Don Freeman in 1968, and made one more appearance ten years later.  Then Lisa McCue took over the penning of the series and has created a number of books since.  Corduroy is also one of the more charitable toys you'll ever meet, giving a portion of his proceeds to a cancer-related foundation for kids.  Considering all this, it's going to be tough for me to be too critical of anything the bear does.  Still, if it's bad, it's my duty to inform you.               

THREE PROS

*If you are a regular reader of this blog, you might think I go to this well too often, but I really feel credit should always be given for putting together a complete story

*I like the old-fashioned sentiment of the birthday child doing some of the legwork for his own party planning; parents today seem to manage the whole process themselves

*Who doesn't love a good game of pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey

THREE CONS 

*I guess there's no social norm that dictates when presents are opened, but if it was my boy, I'd make him wait until after eating so it doesn't seem like material possession gain was the main reason for inviting his friends over (in the book it's the first thing he does when they get there)

*The donkey game had its drawbacks: not only did it miss the opportunity for some humor (having Corduroy stick it the tail on a friend or the wall or the family pet, for example) but I was kind of shocked that McCue asks if he can do it and then doesn't dedicate a page to answering it

*Hate to say it, but I don't think this bear hangs out with the cool crowd

ONE DAD'S OPINION

At one point, we had another book in this series laying around our house.  I haven't seen it in months, so reviewing it is gonna be tough -- but I remember disliking it.  [That was also before I knew anything about the history of the character.]  So when I sat down to read this one for the first time, I had already rolled up my sleeves for a beatdown.  It's time to put my fists back in their holster.  This is a good book with no obvious holes to dwell on.  Mind you, it doesn't take a single step toward breaking new ground.  So, the end result has to be Borrow.

Buy / BORROW / Donate / Destroy