Corduroy is a story about a teddy bear that waits every day for someone to come into the department store and take him home. One day a little girl named Lisa wants to buy him, but her mother points out that he is missing one of the buttons on his overalls. That night he decides to explore the department store in search of a button. He doesn't find a button, but the next day he finds friendship and a home.

Corduroy raises questions about broad and important issues that we encounter on a day-to-day basis:materialism, friendship, and belonging. The bear Corduroy encounters the same struggles that each one of us face throughout our lives.