Winnie-the-Pooh Series by A. A. Milne

"Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind.

'Pooh!' he whispered.

'Yes, Piglet?'

'Nothing,' said Piglet, taking Pooh's paw. 'I just wanted to be sure of you.'"

The New Year has been interesting so far, hasn't it? From my window right now, I can see more snow than I've probably ever seen in my life (not that that's saying a whole lot). So much snow. And it won't go away. It's pretty and all, but as my sister remarked, "there is something to be said for dead grass." Never mind. On to Winnie-the-Pooh - which, come to think of it, makes wonderful cozy-snow-day reading.

Winnie-the-Pooh belongs to that whole category of books that everyone knows as a Disney movie but only some know as a book. (Bambi is another example.) This isn't to say that Disney made a complete wreck of Pooh because, for a wonder, they didn't. At least I don't think so. But even if Disney's version of that silly old Bear doesn't do anything for you, you may very well love the original.

A. A. Milne wrote these stories for his son Christopher Robin, bringing Christopher Robin's beloved stuffed animals to life: humble Pooh, timid Piglet, melancholy Eeyore (who is much more delightfully cynical than the cartoons ever let on), villainous Rabbit, long-winded Owl, motherly

Kanga, perpetually excited Roo, and bouncy, innocent Tigger. (Apparently Christopher Robin used about as much creativity in naming his toys as I did.) I'm sure you don't need me to tell you this, but they are just so darn cute. In all their small adventures they turn to Christopher Robin for help, which the real boy must have appreciated.

The best word to describe A. A. Milne's writing is witty. That's what makes these books worth reading for any age. They're uniquely hilarious, and rounded out with very sweet moments of friendship and bravery. A. A. Milne is also a poet, and can't resist throwing lots of fun "Hums", as Pooh calls them, into the chapters. I look forward to reading his books of poetry. (Titled When We Were Very Young and Now We Are Six, if you're curious.)

Besides its laugh-out-loud quality, I think people love the Winnie-the-Pooh series because "the Forest" is a place everyone wants to go. A place where all your friends are just one beautiful walk through the woods away and you can drop in whenever you want; a place where doing Nothing is quite enough excitement for one day. A place where bears spontaneously recite poetry. But it's enough, I suppose, just to soak in these tales of honey and heroism while waiting for the snow to melt.

"The wind had dropped, and the snow, tired of rushing round in circles trying to catch itself up, now fluttered gently down until it found a place on which to rest, and sometimes the place was Pooh's nose and sometimes it wasn't..."

"Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body." - Proverbs 16:24

---

I hope you had a merry Christmas!

"Who can add to Christmas? The perfect motive is that God so loved the world. The perfect gift is that He gave His only Son. The only requirement is to believe in Him. The reward of faith is that you shall have everlasting life." - Corrie ten Boom