Winnie the Pooh, by A.A. Milne

About a year ago I pulled Winnie-the-Pooh off of the bookshelf and attempted to give it a read with my boys. We got a few chapters in but they were easily distracted, so I put it away for later. A few weeks ago I thought I'd try it again. Bookworm2 (age 5) was the most eager to read it and Bookworm1 complained a bit. (He's been begging for Narnia lately. You probably think I cave easily to that request. We have things in line ahead of Narnia at present which I am trying to get to!) Despite his bit of complaining, Bookworm1 (age 7) found himself pleasantly diverted. We all enjoyed this read: ages 2, 5, 7 and 3-. (It's not that I don't mind owning my age, it's just that I don't remember if I'm 35 or 36 and I don't feel like doing any math at the moment.)

Of course, the kids were most eager to read Winnie-the-Pooh because of Disney. This probably annoys some people but not me because I like Disney no matter what people say. (Except I also do not like Brave and/or Frozen no matter what people say.) I did not read Winnie-the-Pooh-the-book before watching Winnie-the-Pooh-the-movie, nor did my children. In this case, I don't think that hurt us very much and I'm not going to live with regrets. We enjoy both book and movie equally (in this case) so it's all good.

Instead of talking about the story itself (which, if you've seen the movie, you pretty much know it!). Instead I must tell you of our experience.

Mommy - I had forgotten how witty A.A. Milne was. Really, really witty. I laughed outloud several times while reading this.

Bookworm3 (age 2) - Doesn't really like sitting still and reading chapter books but did so for a good portion of this particular read-aloud. That is likely due to the fact that she is familiar with the character names and we sang the Disney theme song several times before and after we completed various chapters. She does like music very much!

Bookworm2 (age 5) - Was the most excited to read this book and enjoyed every page. He had some full belly laughs, especially during the chapter "In Which Christopher Robin Leads an Expotition to the North Pole."

Bookworm1 (age 7) - Laughed very hard and very often. He finally caught on to the fact that Owl kan't spel and giggled hard each time Owl tried. The humor of Milne was not so elusive to my seven year old and he enjoyed the read despite himself. He caught on to the childish humor in ways that the other two didn't. For example, when Roo escapes the pools underneath the waterfall and runs around asking each animal - individually - "Did you see me swim?! Did you see me swim!?" Bookworm1 laughed very hard. Now that he has aged to a greater point of maturity (ha ha), he can watch his younger siblings doing the same things and in the same manner as Roo does, bringing about a more pleasurable and funny reading experience. Life experience does help out when reading some books, most certainly!

Yes, this is a delightful, funny, humorous, classic tale that is not to be missed. I'm glad I put it away until they were more ready to appreciate it, instead of plowing through it a year ago. Patience was a virtue in this case (as in most cases, but let's not dwell too hard on that at present!) and I, personally, delighted in the read.

It's fun to share stories with people who are so clearly enjoying the tale and themselves in the process. To say I LOVED reading this book to my kids doesn't quite take it far enough. Really, the pleasure was all mine!