We enrolled our daughter to the Kumon English program because we wanted to foster her love for reading. Our regular book store "hunt" led us to a copy of Don Freeman's book Corduroy.  

“Corduroy” has a simple plot but it speaks a lot about love and acceptance. The main character is Corduroy, a teddy bear who has lived in the big department store for a long time. He has been waiting for someone to take him home. In the story, there was a little girl who wanted to buy him, but since he was missing a button, the girl’s mother discouraged her from buying the teddy bear, but she bought it anyway because for her, the bear will be a "friend." 

The story teaches us that we will meet people and discover traits that are not necessarily ideal.  A person may be not as organized or as outgoing as we want them to be. We will meet people who may be completely different from us. They may not have the same race or color or nationality as us, but we can learn how to accept them and look at what's good in them despite the imperfections. That's how we make friends and make relationships work.    

The book also speaks about determination. In the story, the girl wasn't able to buy the teddy bear at first because her mother said they already spent too much. Corduroy also realized that he had a missing button so he bravely explored the mall to look for it, and didn’t stop looking until the guard found him. In the same way, the little girl didn't give up; she went back with her savings to buy the teddy bear that she wanted.

My daughter and I usually play a game of what ifs after reading the book. What if Pinkie, her stuffed animal, loses an eye, will she throw it away? Will I still love her even if she is makulit?  Will she still love me and Tatay even if we became too busy and forget to read her a story or kiss her goodnight? I knew she understood what the story was about when she gave her answers. I love how she can confidently say that nothing can change the way her Tatay and I feel about her. And if she ever has challenges in school, we always go back to how the little girl and Corduroy behaved in the story. They never gave up, so neither should she.   

The Corduroy Book and Bear set is available at National Book Store for P 303.00