The overall-clad stuffed bear who in Corduroy (1968) was unmistakably in need of a shoulder-strap button is put in the position here of overhearing about pockets--the lack of which he hasn't noticed in the absence of a need. To that extent, and in that respect, this new book about Corduroy is less simple, assured, and satisfying than its predecessor. But what happens in the laundromat thereafter, just--horrors!--might. In search of the makings of a pocket, Corduroy crawls into a bag of damp laundry, and, taken for lost, is left behind overnight. He barely escapes a toasting in the dryer, enjoys a soap-flake mountainslide, and winds up "caged" in an empty laundry basket--where he's spotted when his worried girl Lisa returns the next morning. "Why did you wander away?" she asks; and, speaking freely, he tells her. So Corduroy acquires a pocket--where Lisa puts a card with his name. Children who appreciate Corduroy--and know their way around a laundromat--will be acritically pleased, as they should be.
