Books with Bean ~ Winnie-the- Pooh

Title: Winnie-the-Pooh

Author: A. A. Milne

Published: 1926

Genre: Children’s 

Summary: It started with some bees and ended with a child realizing he was growing up, but all the stories in the middle are what make it timeless. The stories of Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Owl, Eeyore, Kanga and Baby Roo, Rabbit and Christopher Robin are simple, sweet and they never grow old. 

The title of the very first story is of course In Which We Are Introduced to Winnie the Pooh and Some Bees and the Stories Begin and I find this sums up the stories well. There is always Pooh and his friends and in this case the bees as well. Simple but fun stories that teach the important lessons of friendship and courage, sticking to your goals and having fun while you do. 

What I liked about it: Classic tales stay with us and stay popular because to quote G. K. Chesterton. “This is also why the new novels die so quickly, and why the old fairy tales endure for ever. The old fairy tale makes the hero a normal human boy; it is his adventures that are startling; they startle him because he is normal. But in the modern psychological novel the hero is abnormal; the centre is not central. Hence the fiercest adventures fail to affect him adequately, and the book is monotonous. You can make a story out of a hero among dragons; but not out of a dragon among dragons. The fairy tale discusses what a sane man will do in a mad world. The sober realistic novel of to-day discusses what an essential lunatic will do in a dull world.”

I find this applies to these stories so well, Christopher Robin is a happy and curious little boy and it is his adventures with his animal friends that make the stories so good and last so long. I know I have mostly done books for older kids but honestly this is one of my favorite books even to this day. It reminds me of the fun I had as a kid and to never grow out of the love of the simple things in life. It is all about the adventures you have even as a grown up when you realize you are not to old to have fun. 

Language: None

Romance: None

Violence: None

Magic: None

Recommended Age: As soon as you want. These stories are for children and it is my personal belief that they should be some of the first stories read to children when they are babies.