The Wonderful World of Pooh! (The Complete Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne)

Member Name: Hot_Pants

Product:	The Complete Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne
Date:	15/12/04 (3709 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Verses, Stories

Disadvantages: Children would probably prefer the Disney version of the illustrations

“Go and pick a bedtime story.” I say. “What about The Very Hungry Caterpillar?” says James. “Can we have Winnie the Pooh, James?” I ask. “Again?” Asks James. “But I like it.” I say.

So we snuggle up on the bed, and pick a story. This is not an easy task. The Complete Collection has so much to choose from, it could be time for sleep before a decision is made.

{About the author}

AA Milne was born in Scotland, but moved to London as a child. Much of his education was provided by his teacher “H.G. Wells”, also a great writer.

In 1913, he married Dorothy, and they had a son, Christopher.

In 1924, Alan’s first book, “When We Were Very Young” was published, which is a collection of verses that originally appeared in “Punch”. It was 2 years later that Edward Bear was born. 1927 saw the second book of verses, “Now We Are Six”, and in 1928, the final book, “The House at Pooh Corner” arrived.

Milne wrote many novels, verses, short stories and plays over the years, but none were as famous as the beloved Winnie the Pooh.

Alan Milne apparently didn’t write the stories for children, and they were in fact not aimed at any particular market. Contrary to popular belief, he did not often read the stories to his son Christopher, but instead read him stories by Wodehouse instead.

{About the Complete Collection}

The book could have a different cover depending on where and when you buy a copy. Ours has the map of the Hundred Acre Wood on it, with a green rectangle in the middle for the title, and a picture of Christopher Robin reading to Pooh Bear. The version sold by Amazon has a purple cover.

The ISBN on mine is 1-85613-242-0

The RRP is £29.99, but this can be bought at the moment for £20.99 from Amazon or WH Smith store. There are often offers such as joining book clubs, to get this for as little as £5.

{BOOK 1} - Winnie the Pooh.

Chapter 1 - In which we are introduced to Winnie-the-Pooh and Some Bees and the Stories Begin.

“Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin.”

It is in chapter 1 that we meet the main characters. Winnie the Pooh gets his name, and has his first adventure looking for honey. Winnie the Pooh (who has very little brain) tries to devise ways of deceiving the bees so he can get at all that yummy honey. After dropping into a Gorse bush (ouch!) he asks Christopher for a blue balloon, and pretends to be a little black rain cloud under the blue sky. After discovering that these are the “wrong sort of bees”, Christopher attempts to shoot the balloon to get Pooh Bear down (and misses – ouch again), and Pooh Bear is left with very stiff arms from holding onto the balloon for so long.

The story is cleverly written as if it were being told to Christopher, with questions from Christopher about what he got up to with his friend Pooh Bear. I find this is the most difficult of the stories to tell to a child, as it can be confusing for them to picture another child being told the story.

Chapter 2 – In Which Pooh Goes Visiting and Gets Into A Tight Place

In this chapter, Pooh goes for a walk in the Hundred Acre Wood, humming to himself. He discovers Rabbit’s house, and more or less invites himself to tea.

Now, Pooh Bear is a very hungry sort of Bear, and where honey is concerned, every last drop has to be consumed, so when he finds out that Rabbit has honey, he eats the lot.

Now, as we all know, eating too much means you put on weight, so when Pooh Bear tries to get back through the entrance to Rabbits house, he’s stuck.

Rabbit finds Christopher Robin, who suggests that Pooh has to wait, for about a week, to get thin again. At the end of the week, with help from all their friends, they all pulled together until “Pop!” he came free.

My son likes this story, but can’t seem to understand why Rabbit looks so different in the pictures.

{Let’s take a moment to talk about the illustrations}

The illustrations were created by E.H. Shepard, whom Alan Milne met through EV Lucas at Punch.

As an adult, we can appreciate the beautiful pictures of Pooh Bear, Piglet and Christopher Robin, but what about the children?

Your children may be familiar with the pictures from Disney. They are bright, colourful, and cartoon like. The illustrations in this book are original, and therefore look somewhat different from the usual Disney pictures we see nowadays.

Rabbit actually looks like a rabbit, Piglet is a pale pink colour, and Tigger is yellow, and floppy looking, nothing at all like the Disney version. If your children like the bright colours of Disney, they may be disappointed with the pictures in this book.

Enough of the deviation.

The other chapters in the book are:

Chapter 3 – In which Pooh and Piglet go hunting and nearly catch a Woozle
Chapter 4 – In which Eeyore loses a tail, and Pooh finds one
Chapter 5 – In which Piglet meets a Heffalump
Chapter 6 – In which Eeyore has a birthday and gets two presents
Chapter 7 – In which Kanga and Roo come to the forest, and Piglet has a bath.
Chapter 8 – In which Christopher Robin leads an “expotition” to the North Pole
Chapter 9 – In which Piglet is entirely surrounded by water
Chapter 10 – In which Christopher Robin gives Pooh a party, and we say goodbye

All childrens favourites and excellent stories. They way I get around the picture problem with my son is to give him a Disney version to look at, whilst I read from this book.

{BOOK 2} – The House At Pooh Corner

In this book, you will find more favorite stories and illustrations, and the chapters are as follows:

Chapter 1 – In which a house is built at Pooh Corner for Eeyore
Chapter 2 – In which Tigger comes to the Forest and has breakfast
Chapter 3 – In which a search is “organdized” and Piglet nearly meets the Heffalump again
Chapter 4 – In which it is shown that Tiggers don’t climb trees.
Chapter 5 – In which Rabbit has a busy day, and we learn what Christopher Robin does in the mornings
Chapter 6 – In which Pooh invents a new game and Eeyore joins in
Chapter 7 – In which Tigger is unbounced
Chapter 8 – In which Piglet does a very grand thing
Chapter 9 – In which Eeyore finds the Wolery and Owl moves into it
Chapter 10 – In which Christopher Robin and Pooh come to an enchanted place, and we leave them there

“So they went off together. But wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in this enchanted place on the top of the Forest a little boy and his Bear will always be playing.”

{BOOK 3} – When We Were Very Young

This book is dedicated to Christopher Robin Milne, or as he prefers to call himself, “Billy Moon”.

There are 44 verses in this book, which I love. Some are very short, in fact, just a few lines, whereas others cover about 6 pages.

My 4 personal favourites are:

Buckingham Palace – They’re changing guard at Buckingham Palace, Christopher Robin went down with Alice. I remember this one from when I was a child, and I remember singing it outside the gates of Buckingham Palace when I was about 6 or 7.

Disobedience – James James, Morison Morrison Weatherby George Dupree, Took great care of his mother, though he was only 3. I can still recite this today, which my kids love (especially having one called James).

The King’s Breakfast – I’m sure that 99% of the population must have heard this one. We used to recite this at school – The King asked the Queen, and the Queen asked the Dairymaid, “Could we have some butter for the Royal slice of bread?”

Halfway Down – Halfway down the stairs is a stair where I sit. This is another one that I can recite by heart. There is a very cute picture of a child, sitting on the stairs with a very solemn look.

{BOOK 4} – Now We Are Six

And now we come to my favorite book of them all. There are 35 verses in all. I was bought this book for my sixth birthday, and I used to read it over and over. I like all the verses in this book, but I do have a few favorites, which I adore. Funnily enough, my dad (who is 57) started reciting Forgiven to me the other day. It must be 25 years since he last read it.

My favorites are:

King John’s Christmas – This is about King John, who was not a good man. All he wants for Christmas is a big, red, India-rubber ball.

Sneezles – Poor Christopher Robin has come down with the wheezles and sneezles. They send for the doctor who has some very interesting advice

Binker – This is about a child who has an imaginary friend who is always there when he needs him.

Explained – Elizabeth Ann wants to know how God began. She asks her Nan, an Important Man in London, the Lord High Coachman, and as they can’t tell her, she goes home to ask Jenniferjane (her dolly), who gives her the answer.

And now we come to my all time favorite verse, written by AA Milne. It has to be Forgiven, which I used to recite over and over on a daily basis, which is probably why my dad can remember it even now. I wish I could type it all in here for you, but I would get into a lot of trouble, so I will tell you what it is about.

A little boys finds a beetle in the garden, calls him Alexander, and puts it in a matchbox to keep him safe. Nanny let the beetle out when she’s looking for a match, and he is very upset. They set out to find the beetle (It has to be the same one!) Eventually, after making beetle noises (?) they find Alexander Beetle, and place him in a matchbox. This time they write ALEXANDER on the lid. “So, Nan and me are friends, because it’s difficult to catch, An excited sort of beetle you’ve mistaken for a match.”

{Conclusion}

I love this book. The stories and illustrations are even more wonderful at the age of 32, than they were at age 6.

My children are very different to how I was at their age. James prefers the colourful pictures of Disney, and Amy would rather read something by Jacqueline Wilson (She’s 8).

So who would I recommend this book for? Any adult who is still a kid at heart, or as a special Christening or 1st Birthday present as a keepsake. I wouldn’t recommend buying this for a child of 4 who has already discovered bright and colourful pictures, for they would probably prefer a re-written version with the bright pictures.

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