Customer Reviews

The Original Warm Fuzzy Tale

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When I was a child, my mother read me the "Warm Fuzzy" story. When I became a parent I wanted to read it to my own children. I ordered this book, thinking it MUST be the story I remember. But in the story I knew, nobody got "diseases of the spine" and then DIED. UGH! I don't want to read this to my children! So I did some more searching, and the real story, as I remember it, is the one written by Richard Lessor. It is no longer in print, but you can find used copies on Alibris. It is far less creepy than this one.

This story is a must for every child's early experiences....can have lasting effect on their perspective on life! It took me ten years to find this book with only vague childhood memories to aid my search...now I've found it for my children! Yeah!

I bought a copy of The Original Warm Fuzzy Tale for my young son two decades ago, and it was his first choice for "bedtime story" for many months thereafter. I too loved it because of its message of universal love. If only all adults could live the message symbolized so eloquently and concisely by this modern parable! When my son grew up and moved on, I saved this book to share with my adult friends, and will continue to save it for my grandchildren, if and when I have them.

My mother got this for me in 1977 from a friend in Rancho Palos Verdes (Calif). I loved it as a child, and I love the story (and the illustrations!) to this day.

I am a registered psycholgist that works with children primarily, and I haved used the "warm fuzzy" "cold prickly" and "plastic fuzzy" metaphors extensively in my practice to help them learn how to trust their reactions to people and situations.

With adult and teen clients dealing with addiction I have used the concept of "buying potions and salves" to describe how they are trying to fill a need for REAL warm fuzzies.

Being a woman that embraces the ancient wisdom of the Crone and believes in the spiritual promise of walking the path to individuation first described by Jung, I too do not like the stereotype of the "witch" in the story. On the other hand, being a "Woman with large hips", or... a "hippy" woman, I kind of like how that energy is stereotyped in the story.

The point is, the book is intended for KIDS!!! To reach kids, you have to use the symbols they are most familiar with. This story sets itself in medieval times, the times of the fairy tales they are familiar with, and it uses the same symbols and stereotypes.

I, for one, think that the message that the story sends is worth it. And, by the way, I just read it for the first time to my niece today (which is why I'm posting here tonight, because I went looking for the book for her), and she LOVED it!!! She kept asking me to read it to her again, and she asked if I would give it to her? I told her I would buy a brand NEW copy for her, just for her very own, and here I am.

All and all, compared to what young girls are exposed to today in terms of videos and dolls like the Bratz, and such, the stereotype of the witch in this story is, 1) mild, and 2) in keeping with the purpose of the writing, to use symbols well known to children to convey a message about spreading kindness and love that springs from an endless well of promise instead of being suspicious and fake because you live in a world of fear. The story teaches a universal truth: you get what you give, so don't be afraid to give.

My mother bought this book for me over 20 years ago. I have a photo of me reading it to my younger sister when I was 7 and she was 18 months old. I loved the book back then, and I love it equally now. The message of giving love freely and universally is beautiful. The illustrations are also lovely. I look forward to the time when my own son is old enough to enjoy the Warm Fuzzy Tale. I'm so glad that it's still in print! The story might be geared toward children, but even adults can find something meaningful and reassuring within its pages. Something that will make you feel, well...warm and fuzzy!

I too read the TA for Tots to my 3-5 year-old 30 years ago. She loved it a lot so I've been looking for it again, this time for my grand-daughter. Even though the title is different from the original one I knew, I purchased it and read it as soon as I received it. Bottomline: this story is _not_ the original one and I don't like it at all. Other than showing stereotypical Happy Prince and Princess fairy tale characters (which I can live with up to a point), I saw bunches of red flags when I got to the evil witch, drawn with a full-blown ugly face "who was very clever and devised a very wicked plan". Unhappy because there are so many happy warm-fuzzy people around she freely starts giving away cold pricklies. Without enough warm fuzzies (we read earlier) it puts people "in danger of developing a sickness in their backs which caused them to shrivel up and die". Ouch. So instead of embracing the wisdom of old women, here we have another story that villifies them (OK, I'm a psychotherapist also and know all too well how these images affect us all). No, it's not funny, and there is no way I would introduce this book to any child. The book also does not do a good job of showing clear examples of what warm fuzzies and cold pricklies really are, as the original book did. Too bad, for using images of "warm fuzzies" and "cold pricklies" is an easy way to introduce feelings and consequences of behaviors to young children. I am returning the book.

Claude Steiner, clinical psychologist and author, originated the concept of Warm Fuzzies and Cold Pricklies in the late 1960s. The concept has become the delightful symbol of the positive and negative strokes given and received in human living and loving for countless children & adults. This is the first time that the Tale has been fully illustrated in it's original version. [From the back cover]

This is a very good way for children and adults to learn to be nice to everyone. Kudos to Claude Steiner for writing the book. There are totally to many cold prick-lies in this world.
I am so glad to have this book on hand for my grandchildren.
Thank you for the opportunity to review this important book!
Linda

We read "The Original Warm Fuzzy Tale" in my Sophomore English class two years ago and were really able to dig deep into the meanings behind the story - talk about deep! It is an awesome book for displaying character traits to young children and I can't wait to get my own copy of this for my classroom in a few years when I'm an elementary school teacher. I think that this book should not only be used with small children, but had great affects with high school students as well and looking at the hidden meanings in the book. Definitely a teacher's dream character building book!

I received this book when I was 5 (20 years ago) and loved it growing up. It tends to be one of things that helps me still. I reccomend it for kids of all ages. Some might call it a hippy thing, but in this day and age it is even more neccessary.