Winnie-the-Pooh

Winnie-the-Pooh was exactly what I needed. I basically read it in one sitting and smiled the entire time. There are scenes from one's childhood that seem fixed in place. They are immoveable and grounded in such a way that it's as if they were always there. Many times you try to revisit them in your adulthood and discover that they were little more than cardboard sets and a man pulling strings. Christopher Robin and his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood are a completely different ball of wax. In fact, I learned more about these beloved characters through this book. For instance, did you know that Winnie-the-Pooh had a different name? (I'd tell you what it was but that would be a spoiler. (-: ) Or that Tigger didn't show up until the show more second book in the series? I recommend that everyone read this book with their children (or nieces, cousins, etc.) because it's beautiful. The storylines are sweet, the illustrations are enchanting, and the way it makes you feel is indescribable. show less

A read-aloud to my youngest (7 y/o girl) at bedtime. In a world of 7-second scene changes and high stakes for every minor show, the pacing is drastically different here. Some of the classic tales that I remember from the Disney version are here, Pooh on a balloon to get honey and stuck in Rabbits hole, and the pacing is just nice, simple stories that are fun for all 7 to 700 year olds. What stands out is Milne's storytelling. The use of capitalization to make these simple moments as big moments or big titles lets the adult reader know that their child, who has a lot less history and experience underneath them might view these stories as bigger than what the adult thinks they are. So it's clear that while Milne is writing stories for his show more child, he's reminding the reader that they need to remember to read the stories with the mind of a child, and that is not a put-down to children and their minds.

Pooh's little songs he makes up and boops and bops along tie him to a child, who experience teaches the parents, that this happens on many occasions. And not to psychoanalyze the story too much, but the characters' personalities are consistent with them as the child can go through these same kinds of moods and even jump from one to another in their own play and experience. The friendship maintained amongst the characters might seem at odds but considering that they speak truthfully to what the child feels within themselves and needs to "play safely" with these feelings to figure out how to balance them, the stories hold the cohesive nature without the other characters have to teach the lesson to the other characters.

I believe A.A. Milne is a genius at sneaking lessons to both children and adults in these stories. His use of language is poetic and each story holds some fascinating look for daughter...and father alike. Final Grade - A+ show less

The funny thing about Winnie-The-Pooh is that it has become so much a part of our cultural vernacular that it’s easy to take it for granted. Rereading this as an adult was highly enjoyable and sweetly poignant in all the right places, without being sickly sweet or too moralistic. If you dislike the Disney Pooh, give the real thing a go.

Even as an adult, I just absolutely love this book and its companion, House at Pooh Corner (which has the virtue of adding Tigger to the community in residence in the Hundred Acre Wood). These are gentle and gently funny stories appropriate for reading to extremely young children. They are also smart, well-written, interestingly stylized, sometimes-ironic, engaging texts appropriate for grown-ups and literary scholars to enjoy, reread, and teach.

My sole point of annoyance is that these are stories populated almost entirely by "he"s--the only female/feminine figure we get is Kanga, whose only characteristic is that she is maternal.

Winnie-the-Pooh is a deceptively simple story where the central theme of exploration is tied to imagination and literature. We get our first clue with the name "Christopher Robin", a combination of "Christopher Columbus" and "Robinson Crusoe". When Pooh finds tracks and follows them he replays the famous scene on the beach when Crusoe finds a footprint in the sand; Pooh's ability to make a boat out of a found item (an umbrella) mirrors Crusoe. Pooh's exploration of the world is tied to the exploration of words which are constantly in flux with strange misspellings and double meanings. In the end Pooh's great present is the pencil, in which to write down his own words, to go on his own adventures of the imagination. Winnie-the-Pooh show more encourages a life of reading and imagination, joining our child-like natural inquisitiveness and exploration of the world with the limitless possibilities of the written word. show less

Még mindig remek. Tessék olvasni Karinthy Micimackóját, aki csak a Disney-t ismeri! Egészen más. Nagyon jók a karakterek, a problémáik, a megoldásaik, a viszonyaik, választékos a szöveg, és a kölkök is imádták. Egy percre sem unták meg, a Nagy (tízhez közelít) időnként előreolvasott (Harry Potter a mérce, és falta ezt is). Én meg lehettem kicsit megint gyerek.

The iddly-riddly-oodly-rum-tum-tum stuff and Milne's constant baby-talky switching of pronouns and names ("he" for "Bear" for "Pooh" for "Christopher Robin" for "you") are a bit much to wade through, often, and speak to what a very, very babied boy the original Christopher Robin must have been (and I'm all for trying to raise gentle sons but here it's still trailing strands of empire and you can't help but wonder which beach 2LT Christopher Robin stormed at Normandy). So that's thick and sometimes disturbing treacle to wade through. But underneath that, each of these stories is a slow-paced, sentimental delight, ideal for sending toddlers to happy sleep and giving them treacle to chew over in their dreams, like where are those show more heffalumps anyway. show less