Winnie-the-Pooh (1926)

Text by A.A. Milne (1882-1956), illustrations by Ernest H. Shepard (1879-1976)

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• The main focus of this story is the imaginary world of children and their toys, seen as a safe training model of the real world that awaits.
• The concept of the book centers around the interaction between Christopher Robin, the author's son, and some of his favorite stuffed animals, who come to life and embark on grandiose miniature adventures.
• This story will appeal to children because it closely follows the unique logic of children's play-acting.
• The parent/teacher appeal of this story is in the ease with which adults can adapt to the narrator's voice. The colloquial style has the same tone as that of a parent telling a story to his/her own child.

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My notes while reading the book

• This is an author with an ear for children's use of language:
  • Phonetic and semantic approximations: a heffalump (which the pictures show us to be an elephant) is a mighty creature of uncertain characteristics.
  • Borrowings from adult conversations, often used out of context: Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet on p. 57, Owl throughout the book.
    • Elsewhere, however, Big Words are used (and indeed made bigger and special by capitalization) in a Sustaining way, suggesting they are not Hostile.
  • Writing as a magical ritual--the child sees no discernible method to it: Cristopher Robin, and especially Owl, 'write' by gathering semi-random arrays of letters.
  • Literalism: the North Pole is indeed a pole (think 'big stick').
  • Redundancy: in Cristopher Robin's sign, Winnie-the-Pooh has both 'discovered' and 'found' the North Pole
• Cristopher Robin represents a child's fantasy of the perfect parent: infinitely understanding, in-charge, not openly critical so as not to embarrass the child.
  • Kanga is another parent figure--but she's often over-protective, so that a child would feel stifled by her. Since Cristopher Robin's mother is never mentioned, this could be Milne's way of bringing her into the story.
  • Winnie-the-Pooh is a stand-in for Cristopher Robin in the stories, allowing the latter to express his needs and act out his quirks--even the 'childish' ones.
  • Owl's character represents both the obscure speech of inattentive grown-ups, and the tiresome prattle of young know-it-alls. Discovering that Owl is not all that knowledgeable helps children deal with their own feelings of inadequacy.
• The illustrations are essential to complete the meaning of the story. At times they give a realistic spin to the text: Winnie-the-Pooh's strange way of coming down the stairs is explained by a picture that shows a teddy bear dragged by a child. At other times, the pictures nudge the text towards fantasy: Cristopher Robin's house is improbably carved out of a giant tree.
  • A problem with the Disney version is that the distinction between toy animals and real animals is largely lost--they all look Disney-ish. This suppresses the all-important parallel with the child's constantly-shifting notions of real and make-believe.
    • This ambiguity between real and fake is so essential to the story that it is found throughout the text as well: Eeyore's tail is nailed on, Kanga's pocket is buttoned up.
  • Shepard's line-art pictures are in the tradition of Tenniel's work for the Alice books, but looser in style. There is an awareness of having crossed the Impressionist watershed (see Monet-like riverscape on p. 126). Thus the look of the book is probably more acceptable to today's children, making up for the lack of color.
  • The illustrator also adds subtle cues to help the reader interpret the mood of the story: Eeyore is dark when he's missing his tail, light when the tail is back.

Class discussion

• Loving depiction of a child's world in words and pictures. Cristopher Robin as protector of the animals.
• Enduring popularity: possibly perceived as less commercial than more current material.
• While there are dangers in this self-contained world, they are all of manageable scale. Great emphasis on sense of safety, along with child's proprietary feel for the space (narrator father never intrudes.)
• Illustrations convey body language and emotions readily--see Eeyore's celebration of the return of the tail. They also convey a pastoral mood in the landscapes, reinforcing the sense of safety.
• Adventures are typical of a five-year-old's fantasy. Alexander Beetle's incident reflects child's experience of being the smallest in a group.
• Less dated than Velveteen Rabbit. More universal in its appeal. Better captures details of child's psychology.
• Different animals are presented as prototypes of different types of children present in every group. Piglet is the child who's always afraid; Rabbit is bossy, a compulsive organizer; Owl is pedantic and repetitive.
• The different animals also represent different age groups: piglet is the small child who has trouble accepting that a sibling's birthday is not his own birthday.
• All the animals are very supportive of each other--helps bring out the submerged altruism in children.
• Rabbit in the 'Roo kidnapped' episode plays the role of a prototypical bigot. Addresses children's instintive distrust of all that's new and different. The dark tone of the kidnapping incident is mitigated by Kanga's trust in Cristopher Robin, teaching a lesson in tolerance without puncturing the safety bubble surrounding the children's world.
• Friendship theme--very important to children, who use 'I am/am not your friend' as an all-purpose way to express likes and dislikes.
  • Winnie-the-Pooh's attitude is typical: others should share with him, but he's not all that eager to share with others. He is self-absorbed like a typical young child.
• Pooh's ritualistic way of eating honey (described while planning the heffalump trap) reflects the compulsive inclinations of children.
• Eeyore's remarks, such as 'How like them' and 'Not like some' reflect children's inclination to respond to the world with the creeping paranoia of little conspiracy theorists.
• Children's competitive drive seen in Cristopher Robin's final remark: Winnie-the-Pooh's pencil case, albeit fictional, can't be better than Cristopher Robin's real one.
• All the characters are very life-like (in spite of being, for the most part, stuffed animals). Appeals to children--who see their emotions reflected in the book--and adults who see a distinct connection to their former selves.

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