The pertinence of Pooh

From Winnie-The-Pooh by A.A. Milne | Illustration © 1926 by Ernest H. Shepard

“This is Serious ... I must have an Escape.”

— Winnie-The-Pooh

Winnie-The-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner are two of my favourite books from childhood.

My dad read them to us at bedtime in the evening (and if I was super lucky, so would Willie Rushton on Jackanory!).

What makes these books so enduring? And why do they still resonate today - perhaps now more than ever, with C-19 running amok? 

For me, both Winnie-The-Pooh and Pooh Corner are Sustaining Books, such as would help and comfort a Locked Down Person in Great Isolation. They offer ‘innocence, simplicity and a happy place to escape.’ When we look back to the stories’ origins, it becomes clear why.

 

The animals in the stories came for the most part, from the nursery. My [wife] had already given them individual voices, their owner [cr] by constant affection had given them the twist in their features which denoted character, and Shepard drew them, as one might say, from the living model. They were what they are for anyone to see; I described rather than invented them. only Rabbit and Owl were my own unaided work.

- A.A. Milne

 

From Winnie-The-Pooh by A.A. Milne | Illustration © 1926 by Ernest H. Shepard

 

Some accounts say that the stories were sparked by games that he played with his son, Christopher Robin, and his infamous collection of stuffed toys. Except, Milne was kept at a distance from young Christopher by the presence of his beloved nanny. Christopher Robin reveals in his autobiography that ‘it was precisely because [my father] was not able to play with his small son that his longings sought and found satisfaction in another direction. He wrote about them instead.’

What we do know is that, only a few years before, Milne was a serving WW1 officer.

 

Milne and his men were sent to enable communications by laying telephone line dangerously close to an enemy position. He tried warning his command of the foolishness of the action to no avail. Two days later, he and his battalion were attacked… Sixty British men perished in an instant. Milne was one of the hundred or so badly wounded …

'Winnie the Pooh' Was Created by a Vet Explaining War to His Boy

 

“An Ambush,” said Owl, “is a sort of Surprise.”

 “So is a gorse-bush sometimes,” said Pooh.

 “An Ambush, as I was about to explain to Pooh,” said Piglet, “is a sort of Surprise.”

 “If people jump out at you suddenly, that’s an Ambush,” said Owl.

 “It’s an Ambush, Pooh, when people jump at you suddenly,” explained Piglet.

 Pooh, who now knew what an Ambush was, said that a gorse—bush had sprung at him suddenly one day when he fell off a tree, and he had taken six days to get all the prickles out of himself.

 “We are not talking about gorse-bushes,” said Owl a little crossly.

 “I am,” said Pooh.

- Winnie-The-Pooh by A.A. Milne

 

As a result of his wounds suffered in the ambush, Milne was invalided home. Traumatised by his experience on the front line, Milne created an escape: his fictional Hundred Acre Wood. It became ‘a welcome sanctuary from the horrors of the Western Front that remained fresh in his mind and those of many readers in the 1920s.’ 

 I think we could all do with an escape right now. And you’ll still be hard pushed to find anywhere as restful as Hundred Acre Wood (so wonderfully evoked by master illustrator, E.H. Shepherd, also a WW1 officer).

A place where a community of disparate individuals, with their own flaws and limitations, work together for the common good, cementing friendships and facing adversity (and unseen Heffalumps) with a united front. It’s these qualities which makes Winnie the Pooh pertinent to us today.

Pooh is the poster-bear for mindfulness.

He models the skills of:

being present;

discovering the world around us;

listening to our bodies - and adjusting behaviour accordingly.

Skills that will help see us through this time.

I’m reminded of Thoreau’s insistence that “we must go out and re-ally ourselves to Nature every day.” This period of enforced lockdown and social-distancing has resulted in a welcome slowing-down for many. It’s allowing us the opportunity to reconnect and rediscover.

‘By and large, our world has lost its sense of wonder. We have grown up. We no longer catch our breath at the sight of a rainbow or the scent of a rose, as we once did. We have grown bigger and everything else smaller, less impressive,’ writes Brennan Manning in The Ragamuffin Gospel. The Pooh stories capture perfectly that sense of childhood and wonder that so many have lost. 

Manning continues:

 

We get blasé and worldly-wise and sophisticated. We no longer run our fingers through water, no longer shout at the stars or make faces at the moon. Water is H2O, the stars have been classified, and the moon is not made of green cheese.

- The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning

 

Pooh is not blasé or worldly-wise or sophisticated. He may be a Bear of Very Little Brain - but he is present and full of wonder, as this passage from Chapter 3 of Winnie-The-Pooh, illustrates:

 

[Winnie-the-Pooh] pointed to the ground in front of him. “What do you see there?”

 “Tracks,” said Piglet, “Paw-marks.” He gave a little squeak of excitement. “Oh, Pooh! Do you think it’s a - a- a Woozle?”

 “It may be,” said Pooh. “Sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn’t. You never can tell with paw-marks.”

 

From Winnie-The-Pooh by A.A. Milne | Illustration © 1926 by Ernest H. Shepard

 

Piglet joins Pooh, who ‘had come to a sudden stop, and was bending over the tracks in a puzzled sort of way.’

 

“It’s a very funny thing,” said Bear, “but there seems to two animals now. This - whatever-it was - has been joined by another - whatever-it-is - and the two of them are now proceeding in company. Would you mind coming with me, Piglet, in case they turn out to be Hostile Animals?”

 

The two friends continue tracking through the snow, circling the spinney of larch-trees.

 

From Winnie-The-Pooh by A.A. Milne | Illustration © 1926 by Ernest H. Shepard

 

  Suddenly, Winnie-the-Pooh stopped, and pointed excitedly in front of him. “Look!”

 “What?” said Piglet, with a jump. And then, to show he hadn’t been frightened, he jumped and down once or twice more in an exercising sort of way.

 “The tracks!” said Pooh. “A third animal has joined the other two!”

 “Pooh!” cried Piglet. “Do you think it is another Woozle?”

 “No,” said Pooh, “because it makes different marks. It is either Two Woozles and one, as it might be, Wizzle, or Two, as it might be, Wizzles and one, if so it is, Woozle. Let us continue to follow them.”

- Winnie-The-Pooh by A.A. Milne

 

Milne wrote his classic stories from a place of considerable uncertainty.

What did the future hold?

What would the new world order look like?

What chance did his friends and family have of surviving the times? - questions that many people are wondering today.

Perhaps now is the perfect time to dust down an old copy of Winnie-The Pooh or The House At Pooh Corner, and share them with a loved one. Or you could try listening to an audio version. (Even if you don’t have kids with you, and you’re a bit long-in-the-tooth, I’d highly recommend it as a way of relaxing and lifting your mood!) 

We may, for the time being, have to resort to video and phone chat to connect.

But being together is what really counts.

 GOOD TO READ

Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne, ill. by Ernest H. Shepard (Methuen 1926)

The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne, ill. by Ernest H. Shepard (Methuen 1928)

GOOD TO LISTEN TO

Winnie-the-Pooh / The House at Pooh Corner - read by Bernard Cribbins

Dramatised Pooh stories featuring Stephen Fry, Judi Dench, Jane Horrocks et al

 

Please try and support your local bookshop.

You may be able to borrow audio versions online from your local library service.

A good selection of Pooh books are also available via Waterstones:

SEARCH NOW

(This is an affiliate link)WARNING!download ‘free’ book PDFs at your peril! 99.9% of the time it will be a phishing scam.(You might get a free e-book - but the scammers will steal a whole load of your valuable information, including banking & credit card details!) SourcesWINNIE-THE-POOH BY A.A. MILNE, ILL. BY ERNEST H. SHEPARD (METHUEN 1926)THE OXFORD COMPANION TO CHILDREN’S LITERATURE BY DANIEL HAHN (OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS SECOND EDITION, 2015) 'Winnie the Pooh' Was Created by a Vet Explaining War to His Boy by Eric Milzarski (military.com, 19 Feb 2019) The True Story of the Real-Life Winnie-the-Pooh by Christopher Klein (history.com, OCT 13, 2016) The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning (Multnomah 1990)