Winnie-the-Pooh

It would be remiss of me not to include this absolute classic in my list. I’ve enjoyed the Winnie-the-Pooh stories ever since I was old enough to play with poohsticks, and now the words of A. A.

Milne inspires me in my work every day. Eeyore has always been my favorite, and the Tiddely Pom Hum was the very first piece of poetry that I learned by heart.

A.A. Milne wrote these stories as bedtime stories for his son, using his son’s own stuffed animals as the heroes.

Children are very forgiving when it comes to parents making up bedtime stories (they’ll help by pointing out inconsistencies and suggesting plot points), but children will also appreciate it if you read them these tales, which are some of the greatest, funniest, sweetest, most profound bedtime stories ever told.

Another one of my favorite books from childhood is Winnie-the-Pooh.

As a child, I loved the silliness of the characters in The Hundred Acre Wood. But little did I know, I was also learning valuable life lessons and developing emotional intelligence as I played with Winnie-the-Pooh and friends in my imagination.

From Piglet’s anxiety to Eeyore’s pessimistic melancholy to Pooh’s playful wonder, kids can find glimpses of themselves and their moods within The Hundred Acre Wood. Reading this classic with children provides a fun and nonthreatening way to talk about, and identify, big feelings.

The Winnie the Pooh books are popular in my house, and make a nice companion to nonfiction and fiction/nonfiction-blend bear books you may try on your kids.

So…Winnie the Pooh is a teddy bear, a character based on a toy bear that belonged to author A. A. Milne’s son, Christopher Robin. Winnie lives in tranquil Sussex, England, and doesn’t have much in common with real bears. With one notable exception.

Like Brown Bear—the star of my bear book—Winnie loves honey! 

For me, Winnie-The-Pooh is the quintessential ensemble friendship story. The Hundred Acre Wood is populated with such distinct characters. A bear with very little brain. A bossy rabbit. A scared of nearly everything piglet. A gloomy donkey. A not as smart as he thinks he is owl. And, yet each of these very different characters accepts the other as he is. Well, perhaps Rabbit doesn’t, not all the time. But he does come around in the end. These friends, along with Christopher Robin and Kanga and Roo, create ten of the most beautiful friendship stories ever written. Although Disney did… show more.

Most people know Winnie the Pooh from cartoon adaptations, but those have never done justice to the original stories. Milne’s characters are incredibly funny and human, putting themselves in ridiculous situations and attempting to solve problems with even more ridiculous solutions, all with the seemingly nonsensical logic of a toddler. While kids may enjoy Pooh’s antics for their sheer silliness, adults will appreciate the subtle commentary on grown-up foibles and love the deep heart with which Pooh navigates the world.