"...time for a smackerel of something..."
I was delighted to receive this book nomination for THE HOUSE AT POOH CORNER because it was one of the books that I loved most as a child. It is a terrific read aloud for a broad age range, and also stands up when you can read it on your own.
Grandma Joan, our reviewer, was a fourth grade teacher, and loved reading this book at snack time. It's true, Winnie-the-Pooh has the right story for almost everyone at anytime. This is a great early chapter book to introduce children to longer stories.
FROM B. G. HENNESSY
Remembering my long walks to or from school in winter, I still can recite:
"And nobody
KNOWS-tiddley-pom,
How cold my
TOES-tiddley-pom
How cold my
TOES-tiddley-pom
Are
Growing."
Or another favorite:
"If Rabbit
Was bigger
and fatter
And stronger,
Or bigger
Than Tigger.
If Tigger was smaller,
Then Tigger's bad habit
Of bouncing at Rabbit
Would matter
No longer,
If Rabbit
Was taller."
I also empathize with Pooh's response when Rabbit asks if what Pooh was saying was any good: "No," said Pooh sadly. "no good." How many children and adults feel the same way? I know I do.
Just writing about this book made me stop and reread parts of it again.
A few words about E. H. Shepard's artwork- there are few books that can compare. The warmth and tenderness of his characters from the gloomy Eeyore to exuberant Piglet have rarely been matched. How many of you remember the endpapers from THE HOUSE AT POOH CORNER? I recently read that five pieces of original art from the Pooh books, including the wonderful map endpapers were sold at the highest price ever for children's book illustrations, over $1.2 million. That would buy a lot of honey.
There are MANY different editions of this book as well as several books by Milne about Pooh, and I urge you to read from the originals. And just to tempt you more, the original well-loved stuffed toys are in the New York Public Library, see below.
