Before a girl named Lisa ever loved him, Corduroy was a small, plain bear on a department store shelf at Christmas, wishing somebody would choose him for a gift. Nobody seems to notice a bear with nothing special about him. So he sets off across the great big store to ask Santa Claus himself for help, and a proper visit to Santa calls for a proper outfit.

B.G. Hennessy tells the how-it-all-began story of Don Freeman's beloved bear with warm humor, and Jody Wheeler's pictures keep the cozy mid-century look of the original books, right down to the moment a certain pair of green corduroy overalls enters the picture.

This sturdy board edition puts the story in toddler-safe pages, sized for stockings and small laps. For a family that already loves Corduroy, it is the missing first chapter; for a baby's first Christmas, it is the start of a very good habit.