Winnie-the-Pooh on Success (Hardcover)

by Roger E. Allen (Author), Stephen D. Allen (Author), A. A. Milne (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
What is success? The conventional view is that having money and position is the key. Not according to Winnie-the-Pooh. Bob Davis and Shirley Venard read this childlike tale by the Allens about the many ways Pooh and his friends regard success. All of them involve certain actions, such as selecting a dream, creating a plan, enhancing your ability, and spending time wisely. The ideas in the book are good but are not new or elaborated upon. And they are very elementary. Too much time is spent on telling a Winnie-the-Pooh story and not on substance. Many adults will not want a tape that tries to be cute to guide their personal success. Not a necessary purchase.?Mark Guyer, Stark Cty. Dist. Lib., Canton, Ohio
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
Roger and Stephen Allen have had great success themselves in using A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh characters to illustrate their common-sense approach to business. Their Winnie-the-Pooh on Management and Winnie-the-Pooh on Problem Solving have together sold more than 200,000 copies. Now, in Winnie-the-Pooh on Success, the Allens return to the Hundred Acre Wood to explore just exactly what success is and how it can be achieved. For some, like Pooh himself, it is a simple matter of attaining a few extra jars of honey. Whatever the definition, the point is that, whether bear or owl, kangaroo or human, we must each decide what success means for us and actively pursue it. With its appealing trim size and genuine Ernest Shepherd illustrations, Winnie-the-Pooh on Success will reach an even larger audience than its predecessors. Its lessons are applicable to people in all walks of life, from corporate managers and entrepreneurs, to college students, homemakers, and retirees, all of whom know and love Winnie-the-Pooh.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 209 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult (November 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525942939
• ISBN-13: 978-0525942931
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #935,806 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Cute But Boring, September 24, 2001

By	Kenneth I. Laws (Palo Alto, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Re: "Winnie-the-Pooh on Success: In which You, Pooh, and friends learn about the Most Important Subject of All" (1997) by Roger E. Allen and Stephen D. Allen. (They've written similar books on Management and on Problem Solving.) This book has Very Good Form, but poor content.

The whole thing is about achieving your desires by setting goals and creating a plan. Period. The kind of thing that management consultants might give seminars about, with flip charts or PowerPoint slides showing all the steps to follow. To help you remember, there would be mnemonics such as the Three Ps: Preparing, Performing, and Putting Away. That's exactly what you'll find here, in an appendix.

To make it palatable, the authors tell the tale of a Stranger arriving at the Hundred Acre Woods and giving a series of talks to Pooh and his friends. Excerpts from the original Pooh books illustrate many of the points, and the animals excitedly react to these stories and interrupt with others. As they learn the SUCCESS formula -- Select, Use, Create, etc. -- they practice by building a swing and by rescuing Pooh from a honey tree. It's very well written, and almost constitutes a new Pooh adventure.

Alas, there are two major flaws. One is that we aren't seeing Pooh and friends doing Interesting Pooh Things, such as his search for the North Pole (and then the East Pole). This isn't Christopher Robin playing with his stuffed toys. There aren't any new illustrations, either. The plot consists of the Stranger arriving, the animals gathering, a lesson being given, and everyone celebrating with snacks. Ten chapters of the same plot, more or less. The dialogs and side plots are very well done, but the format is constraining.

The second flaw is far more serious. The lectures to which the animals listen have not been adapted for their intended audience. Instead of being written for Pooh and Piglet, they are written for the book reader -- or, perhaps, transcribed from actual Allen Associates presentations in industry. Here's an example: "Practicing with purpose means that each time you perform the activity, you do it with the intent of improving, either by working on one specific part of the overall skill, or by trying to improve on one part of the ability." That's only part of a paragraph, and part of a lesson. Maybe Owl could relate to this presentation style, with its thicket of Big Words. Is it believable that the response would be Roo asking "How often should you practice?" Is it believable that Roo could even sit still or stay awake through this? I had trouble myself, and can't recommend the book. A pity.