P. B.

Book 9 - A book you can finish in a day

Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne

As a child I always rather enjoyed reading stories and watching movies about Pooh Bear and his friends. However, I have never read this particular story.

I found this precise copy on the bookshelf in the living room, with a lovely inscription in the front cover reading: Uncle K from Aunt A 1965.

If you know anything about Uncle K, then you will know that he has never read a book in his life. Magazine, yes. Book, no. I remarked to Moma that he may wish to have this book returned to him at some point, but we easily decided that he would never read it. At the time it was given to him, he would have been six and, therefore; has probably only been privy to its innermost ideas as a result of a bedtime story courtesy of dear Oma. He probably doesn't have any remembrance of the existence of such a gift. Maybe one day his grandchild(ren) will appreciate such a token of history. I shall keep it safe just in case such a moment arises.

If you have ever read this tale, or rather mixture of tales, then you may understand where I'm coming from here.

As I began reading, I felt such excitement in getting the opportunity to discover something from my childhood that would easily go along with everything  I already know about the tales of Pooh Bear. However, I soon realized that, like most books from our childhoods, the themes in the stories were of a much older nature than something for a small child. There were many things that made me stop and wonder about what the author was really thinking when pairing such a group of words. With the reoccurring image of little Christopher Robin and his gun, and the ever gloomy Eeyore, I started to wonder if it wasn't one of my better ideas to read the book in my more advanced years.

Upon further reflection, one will notice that the parts of the book that I found to be troubling or maybe not age appropriate, will have little negative effect on the way a child would see the story. As children we are all graced with the ability to be innocent, and although many children's books and movies from my childhood seem a bit disturbing to me today; they were quite harmless when I was but 4 feet (which was not very long, let me tell you).

I quite enjoyed reading the "without a brain" way that Pooh Bear takes on life and the rather philosophical things that he thought while assuming that he didn't have a brain.

If you are planning on reading this novel in the near future, you will need about three hours to finish it. It involves little intellectual attentiveness, which is rather wonderful sometimes for reading.

Beware the Woozles, this is t-bear signing off