Corduroy and his friend Lisa experience the world from the point-of-view of an urban child, with the sights, sounds, smells, tastes and tactile sensations of a big, bustling, vibrant city. Lisa and Corduroy’s world is one where diverse people and cultures live together in a contemporary community.
Corduroy's first ride on the city subway is full of exciting sights and sounds. But when Lisa becomes distracted, and doesn't keep an eye out for Corduroy as she should, she and her toy bear get separated. Now it's up to both Lisa and Corduroy to come up with a solution for finding each other.
The apartment building elevator's out of order. For an energetic kid like Lisa, this doesn't pose much of a problem. But for some other tenants, such as the elderly, new mothers, and Moppy's Dad, who twisted his ankle, the stairs are a problem. Lisa and Corduroy provide a helping hand and sturdy legs to those in need of assistance.
Corduroy just can't-or won't-get to sleep. He's thirsty, his pillow needs fluffing, he's cold, now he's hot. But what Corduroy won't admit is he's afraid of the dark. Lisa helps Corduroy overcome his fear by sharing her own past nighttime worries, and how she resolved them.
Lisa's missing scissors and a messy linen closet (caused by Corduroy and Buckaroo when they are caught by Lisa playing in it) in separate incidents, Moppy and Corduroy learn that telling lies can usually bring a whole new mess of problems.
It's the year's first snowfall, and of all things, Lisa and Corduroy are craving ice cream. Lisa's allowance is spent already, so Mom suggests Lisa use her own initiative to earn money to buy this snack. Lisa comes up with a great idea: she can clear her neighbours' sidewalks of snow!
Corduroy (who is left out at home because Lisa is at school) ventures downstairs on his own to put a card to Lisa in the lobby mailbox after she surprises him with a "thinking of you" card.
The local park is so full of trash and discarded pop cans that even the poor ducks can't swim around in their pond. Lisa and Corduroy, along with their friends and neighbours, pitch in to help tidy up the park. But, as Lisa discovers, organization is the key to a successful clean up.
Lisa thinks there's only one kind of music worth listening to, hip-hop. But how can Lisa be so sure when she's never really given other styles of music a chance? By pointing out all the music heard on their very own neighbourhood block-Indian, waltz, even men playing silver spoons - Corduroy and Rosetta soon have Lisa dancing to the different rhythms of the street.
A picnic in the park ends up becomes something else entirely when Corduroy ends up sailing solo on Moppy's toy boat. Moppy had promised Lisa he'd take care of Corduroy and now Corduroy's missing!
Mom's in bed with a cold, so Lisa offers to make lunch. It'll be Lisa's first time preparing a meal on her own, and Mom has very clear instructions for Lisa to follow. But in the excitement of being a chef, Lisa bypasses a simple peanut butter and jelly sandwich for an improvised pasta salad, featuring a dressing made out of prune juice, in spite of Corduroy's objections to Lisa's ideas!
What a beautiful day for kite flying. Moppy and Lisa revel in watching their kite's soar with the breeze, until their competitive spirits rise too. They are so keen on flying their kites higher than the other's, their kite's end up stuck in a tree. Now working together, the pair constructs one kite out of makeshift parts, and Corduroy is given a soaring ride in the sky.
Lisa has spent her day at school learning about dinosaurs, and now she's going to build her own dinosaur out of pipe cleaners. Corduroy decides he's going to make a dinosaur too, out of felt. When Lisa meets her pipe cleaner dinosaur in her imagination, the dinosaur is terribly cold. When Corduroy meets his felt dinosaur in his imagination, the dinosaur is terribly wobbly. But by working together, and making one dinosaur out of both pipe cleaners and felt, they construct the perfect Stegosaurus.
Lisa loses a race to Moppy and wonders if his smart-looking sneakers are the reason why. After all, her sneakers are so plain and boring. Corduroy, meanwhile, has lost a button, and worries that Lisa won't love him as much if he doesn't look his best. Both Lisa and Corduroy discover that appearance isn't everything. What's inside counts.
Sometimes we're ready to try something new, but it's okay if we're not, as Moppy discovers when he visits Lisa for his first-over sleepover.
Lisa doesn't tell Mom about her toothache, for fear a visit to the dentist's office will mean a big needle. But when Corduroy comes to Lisa about his hurt elbow, Lisa realizes the importance of asking for help when help is needed.
Change isn't easy to accept. Just ask Moppy and Corduroy. Moppy is delaying a dreaded visit to the Barber's for a much needed haircut. And Corduroy worries that his new blanket means he has to give up his old, treasured blanket. Lisa finds a way to help reassure both her friends.
A visit to Lisa's Mom's art gallery has Lisa, Corduroy, and Rosetta each making art. But Rosetta becomes jealous when she hears Lisa tell Corduroy she loves his sculpture. The consequences of jealousy become apparent when Rosetta accidentally damages Corduroy's sculpture, and ends up destroying her very own painting as well.
Whew! What a hot day in the city! It's too late in the afternoon to take Corduroy to the beach, so Lisa decides to bring the beach to Corduroy! They transform their very own fire escape into a beach haven, using ingenuity and their imaginations to stay cool.
A neighbourhood block party has everyone out in heritage dress, dishing up ethnic cuisine. Moppy eats his way through the party, rudely pushing ahead of line-ups, and eagerly grabbing more than his share of food samples. Not only is Lisa is disturbed by Moppy's greedy behavior, she's finding Corduroy is also being a little selfish, unwilling to share a piñata they won together in a contest.
Mrs. Cho gives Lisa a disposable instant camera, and Lisa zestfully sneaks up on her friends in the apartment building, taking snapshots of them in embarrassing poses (such as Mom in curlers and face cream). When, to her displeasure, Corduroy starts snooping around in her cedar chest, Lisa realizes she hasn't been respecting other people's privacy, and starts asking friends' permission before taking their photographs.
It's Lisa's first time trying to ice skate at the city's public rink, and she can hardly wait to try out the swirls and twirls she's seen seasoned skaters perform. But Lisa's first gig on the ice is less than graceful, and she gives up before she's ever really started. When helping teach Corduroy how to do a somersault, Lisa understands the importance of perseverance and decides to try skating again.
Nicknames can hurt. And Lisa and Corduroy find out while they are in during exuberant play. Lisa takes to calling Moppy "Sloppy Toppy", Moppy takes to calling Lisa "Lisa Pizza", Corduroy takes to calling Buckaroo "Stuckaroo", and Buckaroo takes to calling Corduroy a "boo-boo head".
A visit to the supermarket has Lisa and Corduroy very excited. So excited they aren't paying attention to what's around them, as they play at the automatic sliding doors, almost drop jars of food, or practically start a shopping cart traffic jam. As Mom points out, it's better to be safe than sorry.
With Buckaroo and Rosetta's help, Lisa plans a special surprise party for Corduroy-to celebrate the day she brought him home from the department store! Unaware of these party plans, Corduroy feels unwanted and abandoned, mistakenly thinking his friends have decided they don't want to play with him anymore.
Lisa finds a lost puppy and decides to keep him. But "finders keepers" does not always hold true, as Lisa realizes when she remembers how it felt to lose Corduroy on the subway and decides to seek the puppy's rightful owner.
Reading and hearing stories read aloud bring great joy to Corduroy and Lisa. But when Lisa is allowed her very own library card, and misplaces a book, they realize that responsibility comes with the privilege of borrowing books.
