The House at Pooh Corner

Shepard’s roughly-hatched illustrations are a symbiotic match for the scruffy charm and humour of Milne’s stories.

Only a couple of chapters feature snow, but they loom so large in my imagination—Pooh and Piglet following their own footsteps in search of the legendary Heffalump; and building Eeyore’s new house at Pooh Corner to shelter him from the snowstorm (unwittingly using Eeyore’s existing house as their source of wood).

As Eeyore gets buried in the snow, I can feel the cold wind with each economical scratch of Shepherd’s pen nib.

Every so often there is a perfect pairing of word and image. This is one of them. And even though this book is not about real animals, the characters A. A. Milne has dreamt up, and E.H. Shepard has given a face to, have the very real attributes of our beloved animal companions. Readers young and old will appreciate the charming, and often wise words of Winnie the Pooh and his companion, Piglet, as they bestow the value of true friendship. And for Christopher Robin, their guardian, the very real bond of unconditional love.