Skip to main content

Great Novels: Winnie the Pooh

    I've been reading Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne to my almost 2 year old daughter over the last couple of months.  I'm not sure if you could so much call Pooh a novel as a series of short stories (though the stories are connected somewhat).  One thing I did not know before reading the book was that it is a series of stories that Milne wrote for his son Christopher Robin.  Reading the book knowing this gives a perspective making the book even sweeter than just some cute, whimsical stories being written for just any child.

    I really liked the book.  I can not say for sure that the book is great for children or anything.  I mean my daughter liked it but I think right now she just likes it when I read anything to her.  But the stories are definitely simple and entertaining.  There are some bits of the book that I think might go over the head of children, the subtle arrogance of some of the characters some of the strangeness in the humor.  Milne seems to be writing for the adults reading to their children at times, which I think makes for any great children's book (or cartoon).

    You are probably familiar with the Disney's interpretation of Winnie the Pooh.  I had always heard that the Disney version is nothing like the original book.  I was a little surprised to find that they are at least similar.  The characters are similar and many of the plots for the movies are at least based on some of the stories in the book.  The new Winnie the Pooh movie even has dialog that is taken completely out of the book.

    One thing that isn't in the book that you may miss if  if you are a fan of the Disney movies is Tigger but never fear there is a sequel to Winnie the Pooh, The House at Pooh Corner, which I am planning on getting eventually...
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Book Review: Tribes

 Tribes  by Seth Godin is a quick read on leadership.  I read this book because it was listed on "Books every leader needs to read" or some such similarly named list.    There are some good bits to glean out of this short book.  I'll try to condense them here:   Managers are not by nature leaders.  Managers allocate resources to accomplish a defined outcome.  Leaders change things by setting a vision and building a tribe around that vision.   Tribes are everywhere big and small.  Mega-tribes, sub-tribes, etc.   Leadership is inherent risky.  But far less risky than our minds tend to think.  This is evidenced by the many failures of several highly successful leaders.  (Think Elon Musk and the Tesla Truck presentation ).   Find people who are doing exceptionally better than average and amplify their influence on everyone else.   Leadership is about challenging the status quo.  It is s...
Post a Comment
Read more

Book Review: Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now

I recently (actually weeks or months ago now) finished reading "Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now" by Jaron Lanier.  This short book covers what is quite possibly one of the biggest issues of the current era, the toxic influence of "social media" on individuals and culture at large. The book raises issues about more than purely "social media" sites like Facebook and Twitter, attacking the business model that many web services are operated on.  I can't bring myself to fully agree with every point raised by Lanier.  Ten chapters present ten different arguments for why you should opt out of most of interactions happening on the internet today.  However, I believe they can be summarized in two key points. Social media is bad for your health.   Your emotional, social, psychological and spiritual well being are degraded by the use of social media.  These sites tend to reduce our ability to have empathy, increase irritabili...
Post a Comment
Read more

Some Goals for 2021

I have had a lot of time by myself recently.  I'm working away from home for a few months and my family hasn't been with me for several weeks of that.  I've tried my best to use that time for some productive self reflection, contemplation, navel gazing, etc.  The product of that is a list of goals for the year.  I wanted to put (some of) these out there publicly for some positive social pressure. Recreation & Relationship To start off, I'd like a little more fun in my life.  And I'd like to have that fun with people who I cherish. Have at least one meaningful, memorable one on one experience with each of my children.  This time apart from my family has highlighted  just how valuable time spent together is.  We're pretty good at finding ways to have fun all together at home.  We play board games, read books aloud (we read the first four Harry Potter books last year), spend time outdoors, etc.  But I have not been very good at spending...
Post a Comment
Read more