Nancy ParentCritiques

Craft

Animal

A nice short read and a nice introduction to Mindfullness and Zen.
I was disappointed in the "POOH" angle, though.
Pooh and the other characters certinly behaved much like in this book but the thoughts and little poems and things that are attributed to Pooh are NOT like the original Pooh, a bit of a stretch to have him talk and say all the things in this book. I appreciate the intent and if you don't remember much of Pooh, or never read it, the author definitely does his best to have them introduce some Mindfullness and Zen concepts.

Prolific Pooh writer Nancy Parent teams up with her brother and his degrees in psychology and meditation to use Pooh to introduce mindfulness and suggest tactics to get more of it into your life. Each chapter has a snippet introducing a new concept, a passage of Pooh walking around meeting his friends one by one -- the hoariest of Pooh plots, about which I have complained frequently in my Pooh Project -- and then self-help instructions for the reader as to how you can start doing the mindfulness techniques that come so naturally to Pooh.

I requested this as a birthday gift just because Pooh is in it, not any desire to learn about mindfulness. I get the mindfulness thing, but I'm not big on self-help books and their tone, and not even Pooh can save this one.

(My Pooh Project: I love Winnie the Pooh, and so does my wife. Having a daughter gave us a chance to indoctrinate her into the cult by buying and reading her every Pooh book we came across. How many is that? I’m going to count them this year by reading and reviewing one every day and seeing which month I finally run out. Track my progress here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/23954351-rod-brown?ref=nav_mybooks&she... )

compilation of several Disney fairy tales, features shortened versions of each tale, perfect for young children and their parents to read together, color pictures shown that are based on the movie versions that have been made, also features classic fairytales with Disney characters such as The Prince and the Pauper and Three Little Pigs

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This treasury collects and adapts a mixed bag of mediocre short stories and rhymes that originally appeared in several other Pooh Christmas books and collections, mostly Winnie the Pooh's Stories For Christmas, Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Christmas Stories, and Winnie the Pooh's Holiday Hummables. I try to sort it all out below.

Introduction / written by Bruce Talkington; illustrated by John Kurtz (from Winnie the Pooh's Stories For Christmas)
~2 stars~
This prologue is like the start of a sitcom clip show: It has Christopher Robin and Pooh talking about Christmas as they walk along through the snow on Christmas Eve, and so Pooh starts to dwell on his favorite Christmas memories . . .

The Bite Before Christmas / written by Bruce Talkington; illustrated by John Kurtz (from Winnie the Pooh's Stories For Christmas)
~2 stars~
Santa needs a helper to consume all those snacks kids leave out for him on Christmas Eve, and since Cookie Monster was unavailable, he recruits Pooh. I'd love this if it weren't for the stupid "it was all a dream . . . or was it?" ending.

Pooh's Christmas Hum / written by Amy Edgar; illustrated by Costa Alavezos (from Winnie the Pooh's Holiday Hummables)
~2 stars~
A nothing little rhyme where everyone but Pooh has fallen asleep in front of a fireplace.

Santa Pooh / written by Nancy Parent; penciled by Lee Loetz; painted by Brent Ford (from Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Christmas Stories)
~2 stars~
Another nothing little rhyme where Pooh delivers presents to his friends.

The Night Before Christmas / based on the poem by Clement C. Moore; illustrated by Sol Studios (from Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Christmas Stories and Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Night Before Christmas)
~3 stars~
An abbreviated version of Clement C. Moore's classic poem. I thought they'd adapt it to Pooh more, but Piglet's name is slipped in once, and the rest is fairly faithful to the original with a few lines dropped out here and there.

A Tigger at Christmastime / written by Amy Edgar; illustrated by Costa Alavezos (from Winnie the Pooh's Holiday Hummables)
~3 stars~
A cute, short variation on the Sherman Brothers'"The Wonderful Thing about Tiggers" that has Tigger singing, "Cutting, taping, folding, tying -- Ho-ho-ho-ho-ho!" as he wraps presents.

A Very Small Christmas / written by Bruce Talkington; illustrated by John Kurtz (from Winnie the Pooh's Stories For Christmas)
~2 stars~
A dreadfully overwritten story about Piglet's fear of the dark. He's dangerously filled his house with dozens of candles on his Christmas tree and wrapped in boughs on his mantle, but when he opens a window to see who is scratching at his front door, a breeze blows them all out, and he must form an unlikely partnership with his visitor to get through the dark winter nights.

Christmas Cookies / written by Amy Edgar; illustrated by Costa Alavezos (from Winnie the Pooh's Holiday Hummables)
~3 stars~
Rabbit says a little rhyme while he bakes.

Eeyore's Christmas Surprise / adapted from "Unstable Christmas" in Winnie the Pooh's Stories For Christmas by Bruce Talkington; illustrated by John Kurtz (from Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Christmas Stories)
~2 stars~
Eeyore's Christmas decorations cause his house to collapse, and his friends spend Christmas Eve helping him rebuild. A cheesy ending fails to give the story much of a point.

A Christmas Tree for Pooh / written by Amy Edgar; illustrated by Costa Alavezos (from Winnie the Pooh's Holiday Hummables)
~2 stars~
Pooh gets and trims his Christmas tree.

Pooh's Jingle Bells / written by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld; illustrated by Robbin Cuddy (from the "My Very First Winnie the Pooh" series)
~2 stars~
Third time this week I've read this story or an adaptation of it. And it wasn't that good the first time:
Christopher Robin makes Pooh feel guilty about wanting presents for Christmas, so Pooh decides they should get in the Christmas spirit by helping Santa Claus deliver presents. They circle around the Hundred-Acre Wood gathering friends and supplies for the effort, but accomplish little except pressuring a dubious Eeyore into pulling everyone around in a sleigh while they sing, "Jingle Bells." Ho-ho-ho-my-god!

The Twelve Days of Christmas / illustrated by Sol Studios (from Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Christmas Stories and Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Twelve Days of Christmas)
~3 stars~
A cute variation on the traditional song has the Pooh characters pretty well inserted: "Two Kanga-roos and a Piglet in a pear tree."

Snow Time like Christmas / written by Bruce Talkington; illustrated by John Kurtz (from Winnie the Pooh's Stories For Christmas)
~2 stars~
Roo thinks he has found some magical walking and talking snowmen on Christmas Eve. As is the custom on Christmas, his mother and friends lie to the child about the magical beings' true nature.

Sledding with Christopher Robin / written by Amy Edgar; illustrated by Costa Alavezos (from Winnie the Pooh's Holiday Hummables)
~2 stars~
A little rhyme about Christopher Robin and Pooh sledding that makes me realize I'd rather be reading a Calvin and Hobbes sledding strip.

The Best Part of Christmas / written by Amy Edgar; illustrated by Costa Alavezos (from Winnie the Pooh's Holiday Hummables)
~2 stars~
The best part of Christmas . . . is Folger's in your cup. Oh, wait, I don't drink coffee, I just spent too much time watching commercials when I was a kid. Anyhow, this is a sappy little rhyme about friendship that involves hugging. Eww.

Pooh's Wishing Star / written by Bruce Talkington; illustrated by John Kurtz. Adapted from The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh Season 1, Episode 16: "The Wishing Bear," first aired Dec. 10, 1988; directed by Karl Geurs; story by Mark Zaslove and Dev Ross; written by Mark Zaslove and Bruce Talkington.
~3 stars~
Christopher Robin fibs to Pooh about the powers of a wishing star in the sky one winter night. Then Pooh tries to get the star to give wishes to his friends and, after the star appears to fall from the sky, ends up fibbing to them to make it seem the star worked. When the friends see through Pooh's charade, they help him fib to Christopher Robin that the star is still in the sky. It's appropriate, I suppose, that a story with so much fibbing makes its way into a Christmas collection.
I rewatched the TV episode today in preparation for reading this story, and I can verify it is a faithful adaptation that is just as cute and amusing as the original.

Jingle Bells / illustrated by Sol Studios (from Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Christmas Stories and Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Jingle Bells)
~3 stars~
Another Christmas carol, but the pictures for this one tell a nice story about Eeyore getting some relief from that Jingle Bells story earlier in the book. Justice for Eeyore!

Christmas Eve Lullaby / written by Amy Edgar; illustrated by Costa Alavezos (from Winnie the Pooh's Holiday Hummables)
~2 stars~
Kanga croons Eeyore to sleep with a boring little song that would put me to sleep also.

Merry Christmas, Winnie the Pooh! / adapted from Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Christmas by Bruce Talkington; illustrated by Alvin S. White Studio; pencils by Sparky Moore; backgrounds by Gene Ware (from Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Christmas Stories)
~2 stars~
Pooh forgets to get Christmas presents for his friends, but Christopher Robin hands him a pile of old socks, and everything sort of works out. Feh.

FOR REFERENCE:

Contents:
• Introduction / written by Bruce Talkington; illustrated by John Kurtz (from Winnie the Pooh's Stories For Christmas)
• The Bite Before Christmas / written by Bruce Talkington; illustrated by John Kurtz (from Winnie the Pooh's Stories For Christmas)
• Pooh's Christmas Hum / written by Amy Edgar; illustrated by Costa Alavezos (from Winnie the Pooh's Holiday Hummables)
• Santa Pooh / written by Nancy Parent; penciled by Lee Loetz; painted by Brent Ford (from Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Christmas Stories)
• The Night Before Christmas / based on the poem by Clement C. Moore; illustrated by Sol Studios (from Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Christmas Stories and Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Night Before Christmas)
• A Tigger at Christmastime / written by Amy Edgar; illustrated by Costa Alavezos (from Winnie the Pooh's Holiday Hummables)
• A Very Small Christmas / written by Bruce Talkington; illustrated by John Kurtz (from Winnie the Pooh's Stories For Christmas)
• Christmas Cookies / written by Amy Edgar; illustrated by Costa Alavezos (from Winnie the Pooh's Holiday Hummables)
• Eeyore's Christmas Surprise / adapted from "Unstable Christmas" in Winnie the Pooh's Stories For Christmas by Bruce Talkington; illustrated by John Kurtz (from Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Christmas Stories)
• A Christmas Tree for Pooh / written by Amy Edgar; illustrated by Costa Alavezos (from Winnie the Pooh's Holiday Hummables)
• Pooh's Jingle Bells / written by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld; illustrated by Robbin Cuddy (from the "My Very First Winnie the Pooh" series)
• The Twelve Days of Christmas / illustrated by Sol Studios (from Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Christmas Stories and Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Twelve Days of Christmas)
• Snow Time like Christmas / written by Bruce Talkington; illustrated by John Kurtz (from Winnie the Pooh's Stories For Christmas)
• Sledding with Christopher Robin / written by Amy Edgar; illustrated by Costa Alavezos (from Winnie the Pooh's Holiday Hummables)
• The Best Part of Christmas / written by Amy Edgar; illustrated by Costa Alavezos (from Winnie the Pooh's Holiday Hummables)
• Pooh's Wishing Star / written by Bruce Talkington; illustrated by John Kurtz. Adapted from The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh Season 1, Episode 16: "The Wishing Bear," first aired Dec. 10, 1988; directed by Karl Geurs; story by Mark Zaslove and Dev Ross; written by Mark Zaslove and Bruce Talkington.
• Jingle Bells / illustrated by Sol Studios (from Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Christmas Stories and Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Jingle Bells)
• Christmas Eve Lullaby / written by Amy Edgar; illustrated by Costa Alavezos (from Winnie the Pooh's Holiday Hummables)
• Merry Christmas, Winnie the Pooh! / adapted from Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Christmas by Bruce Talkington; illustrated by Alvin S. White Studio; pencils by Sparky Moore; backgrounds by Gene Ware (from Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Christmas Stories)

(My Pooh Project: I love Winnie the Pooh, and so does my wife. Having a daughter gave us a chance to indoctrinate her into the cult by buying and reading her every Pooh book we came across. How many is that? I’m going to count them this year by reading and reviewing one every day and seeing which month I finally run out. Track my progress here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/23954351-rod-brown?ref=nav_mybooks&she... )

This book is bothersome.

First, I only picked it to read today because, as I was touching other books on the same shelf, this book's stupid round shape caused it to roll off the shelf and onto the floor. A book in hand is worth two on a shelf, I suppose. But this is not the first time this book has jumped shelf. Hell, I've probably spent more time picking it up off the floor than reading it over the last two decades. Grr.

Second, I'm not sure it's strictly accurate enough to be educational.

Let's start with the redundancy in the title of "happy" and "glad." Is the toddling audience ready to grasp the nuance that glad is a bit more likely to be applied to happiness one gets from another's good fortune? We won't get to find out though, because "glad" does not actually appear inside the book. False advertising!

"Silly" does make the cut, and I'm not sure that's even an emotion. Isn't it more a behavior that comes out of being happy?

"Sleepy" is another not-emotion that gets plugged in. That's just a biological state of being, like hunger, that can influence or induce emotions.

Finally, the design of the spinning wheel is not ideal. It can be hard to spin at times or hit frustrating tight spots. And you have to hold it just so, or you can inadvertently pinch the wheel inside the back cover and keep it from spinning altogether.

Needs more work. Come back when you have a new edition.

(My Pooh Project: I love Winnie the Pooh, and so does my wife. Having a daughter gave us a chance to indoctrinate her into the cult by buying and reading her every Pooh book we came across. How many is that? I’m going to count them this year by reading and reviewing one every day and seeing which month I finally run out. Track my progress here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/23954351-rod-brown?ref=nav_mybooks&she... )

The book is a tribute to the original Pooh short films compiled in The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, with some iconic moments providing the inspiration for the puzzles: the introduction of Tigger, Owl's house falling down, Pooh dreaming about Heffalumps and Woozles.

I had a lot of fun trying to find all the differences in the opposing images on each big two-page spread. I have to admit I missed quite a few -- though, by way of defense, I was doing a fast and slapdash job of it. The best parts for me were seeing Pooh with a belly button and Tigger with a soul patch.

(My Pooh Project: I love Winnie the Pooh, and so does my wife. Having a daughter gave us a chance to indoctrinate her into the cult by buying and reading her every Pooh book we came across. How many is that? I’m going to count them this year by reading and reviewing one every day and seeing which month I finally run out. Track my progress here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/23954351-rod-brown?ref=nav_mybooks&she... )

Nancy ayuda a su mamá con las cosas de la casa porque su mamá estaba neferma y decide ayudarla para que tome un descanso pero en esta aventura hecha demasiado detergente a la lavadora de platos e inunda la cocina luego con la ayuda de su papaá logran limpiar todo antes que mamá despierte .

Pooh and his friends help Christopher Robin spot bugs in the Hundred-Acre Wood for a school assignment. And that's all they do. So many insects, so little entertainment.

(My Pooh Project: I love Winnie the Pooh, and so does my wife. Having a daughter gave us a chance to indoctrinate her into the cult by buying and reading her every Pooh book we came across. How many is that? I’m going to count them this year by reading and reviewing one every day and seeing which month I finally run out. Track my progress here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/23954351-rod-brown?ref=nav_mybooks&she... )

Owl decides his house is getting run down, and it's time to find a new tree in which to build a new house. A day of rejecting every tree he sees for various reasons -- too small, wrong leaf shape, occupied by squirrels -- brings the story full circle to its boring and inevitable conclusion.

(My Pooh Project: I love Winnie the Pooh, and so does my wife. Having a daughter gave us a chance to indoctrinate her into the cult by buying and reading her every Pooh book we came across. How many is that? I’m going to count them this year by reading and reviewing one every day and seeing which month I finally run out. Track my progress here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/23954351-rod-brown?ref=nav_mybooks&she... )

Just as the Pooh friends are about to have a kite festival in the Hundred-Acre wood, the wind dies down. So they wait until it comes back and fly their kites then. End of story. Ho-OMG-hum.

(My Pooh Project: I love Winnie the Pooh, and so does my wife. Having a daughter gave us a chance to indoctrinate her into the cult by buying and reading her every Pooh book we came across. How many is that? I’m going to count them this year by reading and reviewing one every day and seeing which month I finally run out. Track my progress here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/23954351-rod-brown?ref=nav_mybooks&she... )

A collection of four stories for beginning readers. The sentences are too simple and repetitive for a reader just out for entertainment, and the stories are 40 pages each so they just seem to go on forever.

"Pooh's Kindness Game"
After Pooh has helped various friends around the Hundred-Acre Wood, he starts a "kindness game" so everyone takes turns helping someone else.

"Who Cares? Pooh Cares!"
Pooh and Piglet find a duckling and take care of it until they can find its mother.

"The Forgiving Friend"
Someone has taken the produce from Rabbit's garden. Tigger makes the rounds trying to get the thief to confess.

"What Good Friends Do"
Piglet's fears are getting the better of him as he starts and hides at every little sound. Pooh tries to comfort him and show him how the sounds are perfectly normal. This story also appears in World of Reading: Disney's Lots of Love! Three Sweet Stories with the same pictures and general story but a completely re-written script by the same creative team. Which -- why? Why rewrite every sentence when both books are both Level One in the same World of Reading series?

FOR REFERENCE:

Contents: Pooh's Kindness Game -- Who Cares? Pooh Cares! -- The Forgiving Friend -- What Good Friends Do

"What Good Friends Do" is adapted by Kelsey Sullivan from a story by Nancy Parent, originally published in World of Reading: Disney's Lots of Love! Three Sweet Stories, 2019, with the same illustrations used here, credited to Alan Batson and Andy Grey.

The title "Who Cares? Pooh Cares!" has also been used for a book in the Pooh Adore-ables series, but the two stories are completely unrelated except for the title.

(My Pooh Project: I love Winnie the Pooh, and so does my wife. Having a daughter gave us a chance to indoctrinate her into the cult by buying and reading her every Pooh book we came across. How many is that? I’m going to count them this year by reading and reviewing one every day and seeing which month I finally run out. Track my progress here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/23954351-rod-brown?ref=nav_mybooks&she... )

Clifford and Emily Elizabeth prepare Easter baskets for Clifford's dog friends. Straight-forward, plain and boring.

A lesson in creativity has the Pooh friends making art and/or crafts from found objects for a Hundred-Acre Wood art show. Meh.

(My Pooh Project: I love Winnie the Pooh, and so does my wife. Having a daughter gave us a chance to indoctrinate her into the cult by buying and reading her every Pooh book we came across. How many is that? I’m going to count them this year by reading and reviewing one every day and seeing which month I finally run out. Track my progress here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/23954351-rod-brown?ref=nav_mybooks&she... )

Another of those Pooh books where they only way the author can think to tell the story is to have Pooh go around and greet his friends one by one. I'm so tired of that structure. The touch-and-feel aspects were fairly bland except for Eeyore's ear. Rabbit looking adorable in a gardening hat almost made me give a bonus star though.

(My Pooh Project: I love Winnie the Pooh, and so does my wife. Having a daughter gave us a chance to indoctrinate her into the cult by buying and reading her every Pooh book we came across. How many is that? I’m going to count them this year by reading and reviewing one every day and seeing which month I finally run out. Track my progress here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/23954351-rod-brown?ref=nav_mybooks&she... )

Here's the first book in a set of educational Pooh books called "It's Fun to Learn" that my daughter and I will be working through over the next couple weeks. Alas, this story about Rabbit teaching the other Pooh friends to garden (There are so many Pooh books about gardening!) is about as interesting as watching grass grow, and I'm worried it's going to be a boring two weeks.

(My Pooh Project: I love Winnie the Pooh, and so does my wife. Having a daughter gave us a chance to indoctrinate her into the cult by buying and reading her every Pooh book we came across. How many is that? I’m going to count them this year by reading and reviewing one every day and seeing which month I finally run out. Track my progress here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/23954351-rod-brown?ref=nav_mybooks&she... )

When Roo says he has more fun playing at his friends' houses rather than at home, Kanga decides to go full Supermom and remind him there's no place like home.

(My Pooh Project: I love Winnie the Pooh, and so does my wife. Having a daughter gave us a chance to indoctrinate her into the cult by buying and reading her every Pooh book we came across. How many is that? I’m going to count them this year by reading and reviewing one every day and seeing which month I finally run out. Track my progress here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/23954351-rod-brown?ref=nav_mybooks&she... )

Pooh haz problem.
Pooh go Hundred-Acre Wood.
Pooh seez frenz one by one.
Frenz no fix.
Sad!
Christopher Robin iz here!
Christopher Robin iz fix!
Yay! Pooh haz no problem!

Writerz haz problem.
Writerz knowz only one plot.
Oh, no! Christopher Robin iz no here!
Oh, no! Christopher Robin iz no fix!
Sad!
Oh, well! Writerz uze plot again.
Writerz haz writez!
Yay! Writerz haz no problem!

(My Pooh Project: I love Winnie the Pooh, and so does my wife. Having a daughter gave us a chance to indoctrinate her into the cult by buying and reading her every Pooh book we came across. How many is that? I’m going to count them this year by reading and reviewing one every day and seeing which month I finally run out. Track my progress here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/23954351-rod-brown?ref=nav_mybooks&she... )

Tigger suddenly has a negative body image because his stripes make him different from the other Pooh friends. No, no, no, no no. C'monnnnn people, say it with me: "The most wonderful thing about Tiggers is I'm the only one!"

Regardless, Pooh, Piglet, and Roo gleefully enable his self-hate by spending the book helping him cover up with paint, mud, and honey. By the way, the author doesn't seem to know how mud works, making it instantly encase Tigger as if in concrete. Then, as randomly as Tigger's out-of-character worry about conformity began, it goes away in time for a happy ending.

Even with its dubious plot, the most disturbing part of this book was the revelation that Eeyore's tail is prehensile when he uses it to brush over an uncovered spot on Tigger. I don't think I have ever seen that before, as Eeyore's tail is very obviously a simple prosthetic replacement that is repeatedly reattached with only a tack.

Hackwork with a profound misunderstanding of the characters. Nice art though.

(My Pooh Project: I love Winnie the Pooh, and so does my wife. Having a daughter gave us a chance to indoctrinate her into the cult by buying and reading her every Pooh book we came across. How many is that? I’m going to count them this year by reading and reviewing one every day and seeing which month I finally run out. Track my progress here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/23954351-rod-brown?ref=nav_mybooks&she... )

A special occasion, a walk around the Hundred-Acre Woods with Pooh as he meets up with each of his friends one at a time, a book-ending party. This one leans heavily on the simplest and most over-used Pooh plot.

They even throw in Eeyore's tail going missing -- the second most popular plot -- but in an appalling move the problem is dismissed with a shrug, no one looks for the tail, and Eeyore is still tail-less at book's end. Nasty. And in a book about friendship!

(My Pooh Project: I love Winnie the Pooh, and so does my wife. Having a daughter gave us a chance to indoctrinate her into the cult by buying and reading her every Pooh book we came across. How many is that? I’m going to count them this year by reading and reviewing one every day and seeing which month I finally run out. Track my progress here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/23954351-rod-brown?ref=nav_mybooks&she... )

The fifth in the Care Bears 8x8 storybook series re-introducing the popular Care Bears and their caring and sharing world of Care-a-lot!
In The Day Nobody Shared, Share Bear makes Good Luck Bear realize the importance of sharing.
Children will love to read about these adorable bears and learn about their special caring mission as the Care Bears teach them the importance of caring for others and sharing their feelings. -- GoodReads

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