High marks for new Pooh, but it's not quite A.A.
CHILDREN'S | Milne touch is missing, although fresh tales have their charms
“3 Cheers for Pooh!
(For who?)
For Pooh
(Why what did he do?)
I thought you knew;
He saved his friend from a wetting!”
More than 80 years ago, this ditty helped make A.A. Milne and Ernest H. Shepard’s original stories about Winnie the Pooh an enduring classic. In its wake comes a modern version called Return to the Hundred Acre Wood (Dutton, 204 pages, $19.95), by David Benedictus, with decorations by Mark Burgess. Jim Dale, who read the audio version for the Harry Potter books, reads the audio version.
The original Pooh books have sold millions of copies and have been translated into 50 languages, including Latin (Winnie ille Pu became an instant American best seller for a stunning 20-week run in 1960). Milne first made a name as an adult novelist before turning to children’s books, foreshadowing a hot trend of the 21st century.
The new Pooh looks much like the old. The new book is enhanced by small, delicate watercolor paintings and sprinkled with a few new songs.
Ten tender episodes bring Christopher Robin back to the Hundred Acre Wood after his first year at boarding school. These new adventures have a familiar ring. Owl, whose spelling is so bad he signs his name “WOL,” sponsors a spelling bee. Pooh, always in need of honey, grows alarmed when the bees disappear. (Even though he is a Bear of Little Brain, he solves the problem cleverly.)
Christopher Robin teaches his friends how to play cricket and sets up a match between the Four Legs and the Two Legs, with Eeyore as wicketkeeper for both sides.
Just as Tigger was introduced as a new character in The House at Pooh Corner, Lottie the Otter makes her first appearance here. Her commanding confidence and emphasis on good manners add a different new personality to the woodland group, but she adapts swimmingly.
Obviously, this volume was written with love and caring in the finest tradition of imitation. Wee Piglet, gloomy Eeyore, bouncy Tigger, sensible Rabbit, supposedly wise Owl (who lives in the WOLERY) and the dynamic duo, Kanga and Roo, remain much as they have been — but Christopher Robin is older and knows more.
It is unusual for a sequel by a modern author to maintain the pace, ambiance and characterization of the original as closely and smoothly as Benedictus’ has.
But no one writes like A. A. Milne. From wry ditties to the gentle unfolding of simple events in the lives of good friends, the grace and fluidity of Milne’s prose remains unmatched. His understated humor and memorable characters — one small boy and a host of animals who romp through a woodland fantasy — have made his books classics.
Can the reader tell the difference between Milne and Benedictus? The answer is yes. The subtle flow of language is not quite as seamless. The humor, although very good, lacks that extra little fillip that was Milne’s. And the illustrations, although colorful and dainty, are just not Shepard’s.
Will the new Pooh be as well loved? We will have to see. I have just started reading it to my grandchildren, who know the originals, and they will offer a judgment.
In any case, “Sing Ho! For the life of a Bear!” still rings in the lives of young children.
Deborah Abbott is a longtime reviewer of children’s books for the Sun-Times. She rated The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh as No. 1 (along with E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web) in a 1999 Sun-Times article about the top 100 children’s books of the 20th century.