corduroy

i am bursting with hyperactivity {strong coffee} and sunshine {the 1st for too many days} and honest talking & walking hills with my new soul sister, sabrina. we connected about the classic children's story "corduroy" and tried to break down why that book got us so. first off, there's the sweet scruffy bear who is missing a button on his overalls aka corduroy who waits patiently, day after day, at the department store, repeatedly overlooked for shinier toys. then there's the poor girl with her cute kerchif who comes in with her mom and picks him out over all the others. they look longingly at one another, but the mom explains that she has no money to buy him. then there is the arc of the story with his adventure through the store late at night searching for his missing button. oh the fear & exhiliration i felt for him as the nightwatchman comes with his flashlight searching! and at last the little girl saves her pennies and mends him, home at last.



in that i too am trying to write a kid's book, i am in awe of the simplicity and complexity of this story and how it gets to the core of our vulnerbilities. is it a romance novel disguised? is it fufilling our desire to be taken care of, or taking care of someone else? is it overly co-dependent? is it corduroy's ingenuity about making a nest in a store and the thrill of riding elevators and jumping on mattresses after dark? is it the girls craftiness and seeing through the superficiality of the other dolls? or have i simply had tooo much caffine and over analyzing?!

on a similar note i read yesterday in the paper a bizzare story about the "roofman" who escaped from prison and holed up at the "Toys R Us"- watching spiderman dvds, playing games and riding the bikes for exercise at night! this needs to be made a movie, or maybe i should write this book:

oh the sun is bright and i have a yucky to-do list to tackle before school starts! i can't believe it's finally happening. TRUST i'm on the right path.