Customer Reviews

Return to the Hundred Acre Wood (Winnie-The-Pooh Collection)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

One would think that an official Winnie-the-Pooh sequel, approved by the A.A. Milne estate, would be a respectful and authentic, if light, sequel to the original Winnie-the-Pooh books.
They would be wrong.
The first chapter is strong, with Christopher Robin returning to the Hundred Acre Wood in the summer break between sessions of boarding school. But Christopher Robin is not the same, and therein lies a major problem of the book. The charm of the earlier Pooh books was that they were so innocent, each chapter an escapist outing into a world that had no ties to the real one. But many of the stories in the book (including a Spelling Bee that is ultimately cancelled and an attempt to start a school)feel like overly mature invasions from outside of the Hundred Acre Wood that ruin the integrity of the book.
Speaking of an invader, a new chararcter, Lottie the Otter, is introduced. She is fine as a character (if overly predictable- haughty but forgetful), but she is not a really well-planned addition to the story, and the end result comes across as what she is- an addition to the Hundred Acre Wood by someone who certainly didn't write the first two books.
(The next paragraph describes the ending of the story, so skip to the next paragraph if you want to save it for yourself.)
In the end, Christopher Robin leaves at the end of the summer to go back to school. This could be a powerful ending where Christopher Robin says he will try to come back but isn't sure, but ends up in a "Mary Poppins" type situation, where the story ends by Pooh composing a poem wondering if Christopher Robin will come back.
The wording of the story is only slightly like the original story, and the poems fall flat. Little in the stories is really original, and a story about a drought feels hackneyed on arrival due to the fact it is invented purely to make Lottie the Otter have something to do.
To be fair, the story does have some inspired moments. (The first chapter is authentic, and Lottie does have a few funny quotes). But in the end, the book feels like an authorized sequel by A.A. Milne's estate, and not really like a book by A.A. Milne.
The witty wordplay and childlike innocence of the original stories aren't present, or not in sufficient amounts to warrant buying the story. Christopher Robin and his friends were better off as at the end of the second Pooh book, "The House at Pooh Corner".

I would have loved to love this book. Though I've always been content with the ending Milne gave us eighty years ago, I was curious to see how someone might try to pick up the story.

I'll be brief.

Return to the Hundred Acre Wood by David Benedictus is DREADFUL. Not only does it fail to capture the original spirit, but it tries to update the "maturity" of the narrative -- throwing in adolescent identifiers, like Royal Doulton and Bournemouth and Edinburgh Castle and "household management" and "thesaurus" -- as if to suggest the stories are being told to (or created by?) an older Christopher Robin. It doesn't work. Nor does each chapter's laundry list of character action, as if each animal in the forest were a prima donna movie star, counting lines and demanding a larger part in the story. Do nearly all the characters need to be in nearly all the stories? No. Do they need to speak so much? No. No, no, no. And as for Pooh's "hums" -- well, for anyone who ever loved H. Fraser-Simson's musical interpretations of Milne's poetry, I can only warn you that there is absolutely no lyrical magic to be found between the covers of this tome.

OK, now I can tell I'm just getting grouchy, and I said I'd be brief. So here it is: the sad truth is that this book is *incredibly* boring. Milne's short and sweet has been turned into long and wearisome. I found my eyes drooping as I turned each page.

AVOID.

(The illustrations by Mark Burgess aren't bad.)

I loved A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh series when I was young. In fact, The House at Pooh Corner (Pooh Original Edition) was the first full-length book I ever read. The stories of a little boy who was actually playing with his toys and woodland animals in his imagination are certainly quite charming. That led on to my reading other books, and many of the childhood classics I enjoyed so have become treasured pieces in my library.

Many of the books I've loved have had sequels written since: Peter Pan (100th Anniversary Edition) has been followed with the film Hook and the book Peter Pan in Scarlet, The Chronicles of Narnia were followed by an ill-fated and largely forgotten book called The Giant Surprise: A Narnia Story, goodness knows how many people have written further adventures for Alice and the Wonderland and Looking-Glass characters, and similarly, there is a countless number of further adventures in the Land of Oz written after L. Frank Baum's death. Many of these books feel like poor imitations of the initial author's style.

When I discovered that the Milne estate had authorized a new Winnie-the-Pooh book, I was interested, though put off a bit. I largely forgot about it, however. Finally, earlier this week, I found the book at a local supermarket while looking for a card. (Coincidentally, I had settled on a Pooh-themed card.) Thumbing through it, it piqued my interest. I rarely buy books off the rack (in fact, most of my books were collected through online orders), but I did this time.

I couldn't get my hopes up too high. As A.A. Milne and his son Christopher Robin Milne are dead, likely the executors of the estate could only do so much. There will never be another A.A. Milne, and though there are some impressive imitators, there will never be another E.H. Shepard.

I was surprised at the opening note, which featured the author, David Benedictus, conversing with the Pooh characters about the writing of the book, gloomy Eeyore claiming that he would not get it right.

And how did Benedictus do?

Ultimately, Eeyore was right. As I said, there will never be another A.A. Milne. While the stories were good and very fun to read, they lacked Milne's charm and the wit that flew over my head as a child but I picked up on when I was older.

That is not to say the stories are without charm, but it is completely Benedictus'. Some tones were different, for example, while death is not addressed directly in Milne, Bendictus' Owl mentions he has his Uncle Robert's ashes in a vase on his mantle, and they were scattered (and mostly recollected) when Owl's house blew over in The House at Pooh Corner (Pooh Original Edition).

Some of the humor was a little odd, for example, in a cricket game, when Christopher Robin explains that England and Australia have had cricket tournaments against each other, Kanga says that she and Roo will represent Australia. I didn't pick up on this a bit, then realized that of course, one of Australia's most iconic animals is the kangaroo.

Christopher Robin left the Hundred Acre Wood at the end of The House at Pooh Corner (Pooh Original Edition) to go to school, but Return to the Hundred Acre Wood finds him returning to his friends from the original books, presumably on Summer holiday. New adventures and endeavors are had by the characters, and we meet a new character, in the tradition of Milne. (Kanga and Roo were newcomers to the Forest in Winnie-the-Pooh (Pooh Original Edition) and Tigger arrives in The House at Pooh Corner (Pooh Original Edition).)

The new character is Lottie the Otter, a rather proud and haughty creature who comes off as a bit modern, but eventually, I forgot she was a new character and let her go ahead and join my old favorites.

Mark Burgess' illustrations are lovely tributes to how E.H. Shepard "decorated" the original books. They closely follow Shepard's original designs, while Burgess adds his own style.

Overall, if you can overlook that this is someone who isn't A.A. Milne writing Pooh stories (which, seeing how Disney's popular sugar-coated version has been expanded upon, it's not really the first time), Return to the Hundred Acre Wood is worth a read. I wouldn't mind giving it to a niece or nephew, after they had enjoyed Milne's original works.

As an 82 year old granddfather I have read the original A. A. Milne Pooh stories to many children and grand children. I never liked what Disney did to Pooh so approached this attempt with some trepitation. It comes close to the Master's work but I'm afraid falls short. I call it over-whimsical or cutesy. The illustrations again come close to Sheppard's work but don't quite make it. The original works have that rare ability to appeal to both children and adults. This book may satisfy the kiddies and leave the parent disappointed as I was. But then I may underestimate the children.

Advertising for this book states A. A. Milne and Ernest Shepard would be pleased. I disagree. I believe they, along with Christopher Robin Milne, are turning in their graves shouting "No! No! No!" The imitation of A. A. Milne's writng style is clumsy at best. No amount of trying could make me believe the little boy in the illustrations was Christopher Robin. Sorry. I guess the bottom line is that I don't want Christopher Robin to grow up and after a year in school he certainly has. He's supposed to stay six forever and ever isn't he?

Let's start with the title: As a reading of the original books makes very clear, Pooh and most of his friends DO NOT LIVE IN THE HUNDRED ACRE WOOD. Only Owl does, until of course his house is blown over. Throughout the text, the author of this book is apparently unaware of this most basic fact about the world Milne created.

The true point here isn't whether this book is "good" or "bad", but that it shouldn't have been written at all. In the final chapter of The House at Pooh Corner, Milne deals with his own son Christopher Robin growing up, and very poignantly brings the Pooh stories to a close. The End. By what right can anyone -- heirs, executors, or whomever -- "authorize" a sequel? There's no possible way to view it other than a profound lack of respect for the achievements of Milne and Shepard, and an attempt to cash in on the goodwill the original books rightfully earned. Do the right thing, and shun this book.

Phew! I can breathe easy. "Return to the Hundred Acre Wood" is delightfully in step with the original Pooh books by A. A. Milne. I believe Milne would be delighted to see his work carried on in a fashion so true to his own.

As a mother of three I have grown to love the Pooh books in adulthood while sharing them with my children. Our family favorites have been "Winnie the Pooh in the Hundred Acre Wood" and "The World of Christopher Robin."

I must admit I was worried about the introduction of a new character invented by someone other than Milne, but Lottie seems to fit with our cherished old friends as though she were always meant to join them. Even though Lottie is a wonderful new addition, it is really the return of our favorite time tested characters with their delightful funny charm that makes this new book so great.

Mark Burgess did a wonderful job creating classic beautiful illustrations for the book. The only qualm I would make about them is that Roo looks like a squirrel instead of a kangaroo. Kanga is drawn perfectly as a Kangaroo, so I'm not quite sure why Roo is illustrated so strangely. This made me crazy throughout the book and it took quite a bit of work to convince my kids that these pictures truly were of Roo.

All in all the book is wonderful and I'm so happy to now own it. I know it is one of those that will be read over and over in my home through the years. Thank you to David Benedictus, and Mark Burgess, for remaining so true to the original works of Milne, and thank you to all those at Pooh properties who allowed this book to happen.

Return to the Hundred Acre Wood is the perfect addition to the libraries of all Pooh fans!

To read more of this review including a few of my favorite humorous scenes and quotes from the book visit:

[...]

This is what happens when corporate greed, lawyers and business
men, with no creativity or sensitivity, are permitted to trash a beloved world treasure.

At least this book will be soon forgotten and Milne's classic will be long loved and remembered.
Look for yourself at the pages published on Amazon and then forget that it exists.
Buy the original --not this amateurish fake.

When Milne wrote his first words for Pooh he was inspired by the love and
wonder a new father feels for his wife and young son.

This book, not worth the cost of the paper it is printed on,
was inspired by only one thing: Money!

As Larry David said on Curb your Enthusiasm, reunions never work. Right from the start (Exposition - on an unnumbered page) there's a typo and dear Piglet is reduced to "piglet".
My dad who was very British used to read us Pooh stories using all the voices he'd invented for the characters. I tried doing that with these 2009 characters and it just didn't sound right. Then - horror of horrors - on page 28 Christopher Robin says: "There was math and ..." My jaw froze! No self respecting English boy ever says "math", if he refers to such academia it would be "maths", but I suspect at Christopher Robin's age it ought to have been "arithmetic".
Oh, well, I haven't been able to read further...

Christopher Robin, Winnie-the-Pooh and all their friends are back for more adventures in this loving recreation of the tone and setting of the original stories. Sadly, it's almost the inverse of the charge of the Light Brigade - It's Pooh, but it isn't magnificent.

"Return to the Hundred Acre Wood" is billed as the first sequel in 80 years to A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh stories, but of course it isn't. Thanks to the magic of Disney, anyone born after about 1970 has been positively deluged in books, videos and toys bearing Pooh's beaming, beatific face. How can he "return" when he never left?

Ah well, author David Benedictus and the trustees of the Milne estate would rather you forget the decades of Disney marketing, and return to the kinder, simpler, "classic" Pooh. Pooh does not wear a shirt, Tigger does not bounce on his tail, and Piglet is a lovely forest green. Mr Benedictus presents us with 10 new Pooh stories that are more an act of homage than work of children's literature. The question is not really whether he succeeds, but how badly he fails.

You see, as far as most book lovers are concerned, publishing an "authorize sequel" to a beloved classic tends to rate on the literary respectability scale somewhere between ghost writing and necrophilia. There's always the suspicion that the author is lacking in talent, imagination and scruples. Sequels to classics as varied as Gone With the Wind, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Peter Pan have been met with scorn, derision and outright hostility. It isn't "necessary", fans grumble, not "respectful". The author must walk a fine line: Too much imagination smacks of adolescent fan fiction, too little, of plagiarism.

Mr Benedictus falls fairly firmly on the "too little" side of the divide.

Is the book necessary? What a rubbish question. Of course not. But then, how is Shakespeare "necessary", unless you have a draft or an especially wobbly table? Certainly, the appeal will largely be limited to British and Anglophile purists of a certain age who despise the Disney Pooh as precisely the Wrong Sort of Bear, who like all redshirts should be disposed of quickly. Mr Benedictus and the illustrator, Mark Burgess, are at pains to recreate the look and feel of Milne's originals, and in this they have largely succeeded.

Is it respectful? Heavens, yes. Mr Benedictus is positively self-flagellating in his devotion to Mr Milne. The new stories excel in following the form of the classics, but it often feels like hollow mimicry, a kind of South Pacific cargo cult pining for the 1920's. There's the same capitalization of Important Words, the same energy devoted to doing Nothing, the same idyllic world--cricket and crosswords are as exciting as this gets. But all in all, it succeeds in being merely pleasantly bland, a bit like a digestive biscuit.

Partly, I suspect, this is because of a difference in perspective. Mr Benedictus is over 70, nearly twice the age Mr Milne was when he wrote the originals. And the stories a grandfather tells his grandchildren are inevitably different from those a father tells his son. There's less adventure, more warmth and fuzziness and "In all the world, you are the one and only, incomparable Winnie-the-Pooh"-ness. The humor is of the "Spell it" "I-T" level, rather than the wry wit of the original. Mr Benedictus's one foray into new ground is the addition to the cast of Lottie the Otter, which goes about as well as you'd expect, in that Mr Benedictus has the sense to keep her appearances to a minimum.

The truth, alas, is that Mr Milne is dead, even Christopher Robin Milne is dead, and we shall not see their like again. Attempting to recreate the magic only underscores its absence. I appreciate the thought, but I'd much rather find something new that makes me feel the way I felt when I first read Winnie-the-Pooh, than sit here and pick at the loss like a hole in my childhood.