"Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think about it."
- Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne, illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard.
"I didn't know we had this kind of Winnie the Pooh!" said my five-year-old. Yes, this classic-styled Pooh Bear was sitting high on a shelf. He had been a baby shower gift when I was expecting her sister. "He's sooooooft."
As an American child born in the 1970s, I grew up with Disney Winnie the Pooh. There are pictures of me when I was a baby, in my yellow Swing-O-Matic baby swing, propped up by three stuffed Disney Poohs. I had to seek out the classic literary Pooh myself, much later.
Little Sis brought this book to me last week. I never read it to her sister, so this is our special book right now.
For the record, she does like Disney Winnie the Pooh.
She's enjoying classic Winnie the Pooh as well.
I'll leave you with something special, though, that I first learned about via NPR: three Russian-language adaptations made by the famed Soviet animation studio Soyuzmultfilm between 1969 and 1972. My whole family loves these. Mr. B and I read the subtitles, of course, but the girls know the stories well enough to be fascinated by the characters and songs, and I love the design. Rather than copying the Shepard drawings, the Soviet characters have their own unique look. And apart from the fact that they left Christopher Robin out entirely, the overall feeling is something closer to the stories as Milne wrote them. You can read a bit more here and here, and if you want, you can check out this eBay store full of stuff I would buy if I could find some way to justify it. Ha. Enjoy Vinni Pukh!
So cute! I've never heard of the Russian adaptations, wow!
I hadn't either, until I saw the NPR post. I think they're adorable. And I love the backgrounds in the animation. If you hunt around on YouTube, you can also find a Ukrainian version of "Horton Hears A Who" (dubbed in Russian), without a completely non-Seussian look. I love Eastern bloc animation.
Yeah, I kept referring to "Pooh" stuff last night, and then the kiddo and I got the giggles, because everything I said could be so grossly reinterpreted. Seriously, I only found out about Vinni Pukh via NPR, and my family just loves it. We go around trying to sing Pukh's songs.
Wonderful stuff! I haven't read Milne to my kids yet... I know, it's horrible! And now i'm afraid Dax might think he's to grown up for it. He's going through a "don't you think I'm a little to old for that?" stage (referring to a variety of things). BUT- It's not like he's my only child.
I never read Milne to Big Sis, either. It wasn't on purpose or anything. I just read so many books aloud to her, and we just never got around to Milne. Little Sis found them on a shelf a couple weeks ago, and started getting them out to look at. It was so sweet that she asked me to read it to her. She loves it.