Winnie-the-Pooh

by A. A. Milne

Paperback, 1992

Status

Available

Local notes

PB Mil

Barcode

1450

Publication

Puffin Books (1992), 161 pages. $4.99.

Description

The adventures of Christopher Robin and his friends, in which Pooh Bear uses a balloon to get honey, Piglet meets a Heffalump, and Eeyore has a birthday.

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

1926-10-14

Physical description

161 p.; 5.25 inches

User reviews

LibraryThing member varwenea
This deluxe hardcover, Winnie the Pooh, is possibly the most adorable book I own. The illustrations tickle my heart joyfully. This first collection of stories was originally published in 1926; Winnie-the-Pooh (aka Edward the Bear), Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga/Roo, and Tigger, are based on the toys of
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Christopher Robin Milne, son of the author, Alan Alexander Milne. These toys are on display at the basement (children’s section) of the New York Library Main Branch.

The stories themselves are more challenging, childish to be exact. Duh, what do you expect – it is a children’s book! Well, be that as it may, there is infinite baby talk and numerous on-purpose incorrect spellings. In fact, this was another book that I couldn’t read/understand when I was first learning English upon arriving in the U.S. The dictionary doesn’t tell me what is hunny and certainly not what is a Heffalump. There are also many capitalized words that are not proper nouns that threw me of on its significance – “…he had a Clever Idea.” This book needs adult guidance to read to a young toddler or to be enjoyed as an adult remembering the simpler times of wandering the woods, freeing the imagination, and appreciating the “Bear of Very Little Brains”.

Be that as it may, as an adult with full command of the English language (I like to think so), I find joy in words of “And the only reason for being a bee that I know of is making honey” and “And the only reason for making honey is so as I can eat it.” The Disney versions of these are slightly differently; regardless, I enjoy my talking Pooh bear giggling these words to me.

3.0 stars for the stories + 1.0 stars for the illustrations and bonus colorization (watercolor) from 1992
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LibraryThing member MeditationesMartini
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
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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 heffalumps anyway.
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LibraryThing member farfromkansas
Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne (with illustrations by Ernest H. Shepard) tells of the many adventures of a stuffed bear, Winnie the Pooh, and his companions in the Hundred Acre Wood. The framework for the novel is that the stories included are being told by the narrator to his son, Christopher
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Robin, and these stories all revolve around the various adventures of Christopher Robin’s stuffed animals. Over the course of the book, Pooh and his plush friends participate in ten different adventures, ranging from the opening story of Pooh trying to steal honey from a swarm of bees to Christopher Robin leading his companions on an “expotition” to the North Pole. The book ends with Christopher Robin throwing a party for Pooh to celebrate his heroic efforts to save Piglet from his flooded home.

One of the first surprises in store for new readers is the fact that “Winnie the Pooh” is not actually the name of Christopher Robin’s famous little plush toy: his real, original name is “Edward Bear” (though he is whimsically christened “Winnie-ther-Pooh” in the first chapter of the book). Notably absent from the book is the character of Tigger, whose bouncy, frenetic character seems to be ubiquitously present in all other presentations of Pooh. As an adult reading these stories for the first time, it is interesting to note all the distinct character archetypes that Milne has created: good-natured Pooh, nervous Piglet, self-pitying Eeyore, short-tempered Rabbit, almost-wise Owl, maternal Kanga, and infantile Roo. All readers will gravitate towards a specific character and recognize character traits of others within Milne’s cast.

Milne’s book is a treasure, and maintains a uniquely whimsical tone that is lost in Disney’s adaptations of the Winnie the Pooh stories. Readers will recognize subtle nudges and winks from the author directed towards more mature (adult) readers, even though the text was obviously created with young children in mind. It is easy to see why so many return “back to the days of Christopher Robin and Pooh” through the pages of A.A. Milne’s lovely, touching collection of stories.
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LibraryThing member Sean191
I might be jumping ahead, reading to my son before he's even born and able to express his preferences, but maybe that's all the more reason to be reading this classics now...

A.A. Milne's book is really enjoyable. It's smart enough to have some laughs for adults without any raunchiness - just wit.
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It's also action-packed in a gentle, non-anxiety-inducing-way for the toddlers that you're trying to usher off into dreamtime.
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LibraryThing member nmhale
I always wanted to be one of those moms that read great books to their kids when they are little, books that are the children's classics, and when they are adults they can look back and remember fondly how their mama used to read these to them. Now I know this is an idealized vision, but there's no
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harm in starting to read these books to them now, is there? I decided to start with Winnie the Pooh, which I've never read before; I always wished this was one of my childhood memories, and now I am making this one of her memories.

I can see why this story is beloved by so many. The narrator is a father, and he is telling stories to his son, Christopher Robin. All the stories feature some of Christopher's stuffed animals, who come to live in the Hundred Acre Woods and take on lives of their own. The story within a story framework works well, because we get the intermittent comments from Christopher Robin and his father's answers, which makes it feel authentically like a parent telling a child a story and captures that innocence and imagination of childhood. Milne does an excellent job in portraying a child's voice. Christopher Robin is inquisitive, he is curious but wants to act like he knows it all, he wants his friends to be happy, he wants to go on daring adventures.

These adventures are the stories that comprise each chapter. They are whimsical, and exciting without being too dangerous. Like the time Pooh does his best to get at the honey in a tree, even dressing up like a little rain cloud. Or when the whole forest floods over in a massive rain (and how many children really do think that their world is going to flood when it rains hard?) and Pooh has to save Piglet. The stories are charming, Christopher Robin is a quintessential child, his father is adoring and has a good sense of humor, and there is a healthy dose of nonsense rhymes mixed in, to boot. A great book, and I plan to read the rest of the series to my own little girl.
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LibraryThing member MrsLee
I love these stories. They are very simple and loving tales of a little boy and his imagination. His "stuffed" friends live in a world which he can visit and have wonderful adventures with them, being their fearless and intelligent leader. The great thing is, is that they continue on in that world,
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even when the boy must needs be elsewhere.
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LibraryThing member IonaS
I haven’t previously read any Winnie-the-Pooh books so it was a wonderful surprise to read this one.

The book tells of the adventures of Christopher Robin and his animal friends, who all live in the Hundred Acre Wood.

From the delightful illustrations we can see that Christopher Robin is a little
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fair-haired boy of about four. He lives behind a green door in a big tree, though, again from the illustrations, he also seems to live in a real house, since we see him having a bath and going down some stairs.

I imagine that the story in the book is being read to him, the boy living in a house, by his Dad, the author, and it relates his imaginary life as a boy living in a forest.

Winnie-the-Pooh, whose real name is Edward Bear, is obsessed with honey. He is a Bear of No Brain at All, but still during terrible floods it is he who finds out how to rescue his friend Piglet.

Piglet lives in a very grand house in the middle of a beech-tree in the middle of the forest.

Eeyore is an old grey donkey who is generally miserable since he believes nobody cares about him. Nevertheless, the other animals remember his birthday and bring him presents. On one occasion Eeyore loses his tail but Winnie-the-Pooh finds it for him.

Rabbit lives in his rabbit hole and one day when Winnie has visited him, the latter gets stuck in the front door and needs to wait there for a week until he gets thin enough to get pulled out.

Then there is Owl who is extremely wise though he’s no better than the others at spelling. He does however use long words so the others often find it hard to understand what he’s talking about.

There are also Kanga and Baby Roo, who is carried about in Kanga’s pocket.

One day Christopher Robin leads an “expotition” to find the North Pole. Nobody really knows what the North Pole is, but Pooh succeeds in finding it, and then Christopher Robin sticks it in the ground with a message tied to it.

They also make a trap to catch a Heffalump and Piglet succeeds in catching one, though it may in fact have been Pooh with his head stuck in a honey jar.

Anyway, there are lots of adventures and never a dull moment; the book ends with Christopher Robin holding a party for Pooh.

Throughout the book Winnie-the-Pooh sings enchanting songs he himself has composed, like this one, for example:

Sing Ho! For the life of a Bear!
Sing Ho! For the life of a Bear!
I don’t much mind if it rains or snows,
‘Cos I’ve got a lot of honey on my nice new nose!
I don’t much care if it snows or thaws,
‘Cos I’ve got a lot of honey on my nice clean paws!
Sing Ho! For a Bear!
Sing Ho! For a Pooh!
And I’ll have a little something in an hour or two!

To conclude, this is an enchantingly imaginative anthropomorphic book, ideal for reading aloud to small children. I will be on the lookout for more Christopher Robin books.
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LibraryThing member immaculatechaos
Such a precious book!
LibraryThing member ChelseaHopton
This book is great to read to children of many ages. Especially for children learning about friendship. This book is about Winnie the Pooh who lived alone in the forest. His friend Christopher Robin lived in a different part of the woods. Winnie the pooh had friends who lived in the woods also
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named Piglet, Eeyore, Rabbit, Owl, And Kanga who was baby Roos mother. Read to see what wonderful times they have together!
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LibraryThing member kscarlett01
This is a classic novel about Winnie the Pooh and his friends that live in the woods with him. This book is a great for children of all ages. The book can be used to focus on the importance of friendship.
LibraryThing member crunky
I read this book to my sons, age 8 and 5, and they both enjoyed it. I was looking for a book that I could read to both of them at the same time at the expense of neither's interest, and Milne's tales fit perfectly. They had not seen the animated versions until partly through the book, demonstrating
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that the interest they showed was genuinely connected to the text. The chapter sizes make excellent bedtime reading, and there is ample opportunity to read each character's lines with unique voices. The humor of the stories is original yet still apparent to children. For those familiar with the animated versions, such as myself, Pooh and Eeyore are perhaps even more humorous on paper. ("I have my friends. Somebody spoke to me only yesterday." -Eeyore) The version we read had an illustrated map by Ernest H. Shepard on the inside covers, and my children insisted on looking at it after each reading to identify where the events had taken place. The book had the added bonus of introducing a slight metafictional element to the youngsters. All in all a great read for everyone.
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LibraryThing member Stbalbach
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
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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 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.
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LibraryThing member jaypee
Yes it's a kid's book, but I didn't find it boring at all. I found myself laughing at some of the stories. Eeyore's gloomy personality was very funny. Now I know why a lot of people love Winnie the Pooh!
LibraryThing member anacryan
A wonderful classic, especially for read-aloud. I love Pooh's determination and loyalty. He never gives up no matter what goes wrong. The characters are sweet and lovable and the writing is funny and entertaining for all ages.
LibraryThing member PattyHoward
Winnie-the-Pooh is a classic that I love reading with kids. The language is surprisingly complex, but the stories are lovely and simple and the characters so sweet, that kids absolutely adore this book. I think it's a great change of pace from reading novels with more complex stories, but simpler
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language, and I really think it is key in developing readers. But that may be that I just think these books (and their beautiful pictures) are so cute. I like this book to read WITH kids who are between preschool and mid-elementary age.
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LibraryThing member fastawker
This is one of those books that I thought I had read but really hadn't. I knew all the stories from when I was a child but loved reading them now as an adult. I found myself laughing out loud at these wonderful stories.
LibraryThing member SaraEllen
Any adult can appreciate the lovely stories in this book.
LibraryThing member faith42love
Winnie the Pooh is a classic in the truest sense of the word. I used to collect Winnie the Pooh memorabilia and this book held a lot of nostalgia for me. I laughed out loud and smiled the entire time I read this book and it did for me exactly what it is meant to do, it put me to sleep. I am not
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even kidding, every time I would pick up this book to read it I feel asleep with in twenty pages. But it was meant as a sort of bedtime story was it not? Even though I feel asleep so often I loved read this book and am very glad I picked it up.
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LibraryThing member sbenne3
How can you not love this timeless classic (especially reading it to your kids every night before bed !!). No wonder these characters live on today. The story is endearing and I really enjoyed the writing style - great for kids and the adults who get the pleasure to read to them. If you have little
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ones, I highly recommend adding it to your list.
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LibraryThing member aardvaarkcreative
Simply a clasic; 1957 Methuen reprint of original first published on October 14th 1926
LibraryThing member tapestry100
The charming and timeless story of Christopher Robin, Winnie-the-Pooh, their friends and their adventures. I truly enjoyed this more than I thought I would. After all the years working at TDS where we had the Disney version of Winnie-the-Pooh shoved at us from all directions, I'd taken to having a
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distinctly soured view of the bear and all his friends.

It occurred to me one day that I had never actually read the original, and thought maybe I should give that a chance, and am glad that I did. It's a simple and direct story, and proved to be a joy to read.
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LibraryThing member lilysea
This is the first book I remember having read aloud to me. My father would read me one of the stories while I lay in bed and listened with my stuffed Pooh Bear. I am looking forward to my daughter being able to listen to them (soon!).
LibraryThing member lefty33
Delightful stories of the Hundred-Acre Wood and all of its lovable characters. Pooh and friends have quite a few adventures (or misadventures) in this collection of Winnie-the-Pooh stories. The stories remind me of childhood, making them special each time I reread them. I wouldn't even be able to
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choose my favorite chapter in this book -- each one is full of wonder, laughter, and Pooh.
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LibraryThing member isaacfellows
To put it simply, this is (despite its age) one of the freshest works of fiction I've read in a long time. The playful approach to narration and the perfectly integrated illustrations (which are themselves some of the best and freshest examples of their kind I've seen) amaze me; but really it's the
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snappy language, the perfect turns of phrase that have stayed with me. This is a Sustaining Book, a true masterpiece that's all the more so masterful for seeming so easy, almost accidental.
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LibraryThing member lycomayflower
There's an episode of As Time Goes By in which Lionel comes home from the library with a stack of books which he says he thinks he's read but actually hasn't. Winnie-the-Pooh is one of them, and that episode always makes me think that Winnie-the-Pooh would be on my list of Actually Haven'ts too. So
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I got myself a copy a few months ago and finally got round to reading it. Someone surely read these stories to me at one time and many of these adventures were included in various television and movie features--I certainly knew all the stories included here. It was fun to read through the book with an adult awareness that puts the silliness in a different perspective--nonsense that makes perfect sense if viewed from the right angle. There's a certain modernist sensibility to the way Milne portrays a child's view of the world which is very intriguing.
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Pages

161

Rating

(2500 ratings; 4.3)
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