Return to the Hundred Acre Wood

by David Benedictus, Mark Burgess (Illustrator)

Overview

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It was eighty years ago, on the publication of The House at Pooh Corner, when Christopher Robin said good-bye to Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood. Now they are all back in new adventures, for the first time approved by the Trustees of the Pooh Properties. This is a companion volume that truly captures the style of A. A. Milne-a worthy sequel to The House at Pooh Corner and Winnie-the-Pooh.

Listen to award-winning narrator Jim Dale reading the Exposition to Return to the Hundred Acre Wood. Also available from Penguin Audio.

From the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101149492
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	10/05/2009
Series:	Winnie-the-Pooh
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	160
File size:	9 MB
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

David Benedictus produced the audio adaptations of Winnie-the-Pooh, starring Dame Judi Dench. He lives in London, England.

Mark Burgess has previously illustrated Winnie-the-Pooh and other classic children's characters, including Paddington Bear. He lives in London, England.


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Christopher Robin returns from boarding school (80 years later) in this authorized but largely forgettable third volume of stories about Pooh, Piglet and the denizens of Milne's famous forest. Missing is the charm of the first book, mediated by an adult narrator creating a tableau for his child's imaginative play with a coterie of stuffed friends. Like the first books, there are 10 stories, but they are aged up to reflect Christopher's new interests—the play here involves a spelling bee, cricket, the creation of a school, the use of a thesaurus, atlas, dictionary, etc. A new character, Lottie the Otter, joins Rabbit and Owl to make a trio of the sanctimonious. Even saintly Kanga—Kanga!—loses her patience with Roo. There are a few inspired moments, including Rabbit's ill-conceived plan to lure his Friends and Relations to participate in a census using carrots and shortbread. (Rabbit also gets the best line: “Happy may be all very well, Eeyore, but it doesn't butter any parsnips.”) Burgess's illustrations are serviceable and resemble the originals, but, again, topping Shepard's originals proves a tough act to follow. All ages. (Oct.)\

Publishers Weekly

[A] warm jumble of happy memories. It's both surprising and comforting that tales of such soft tenderness are still relevant.

Booklist

A. A. Milne was a genius and his books are enduring classics; David Benedictus is not a genius and this book is not an enduring classic. It is hardly a criticism of Benedictus to point this out. This collection of new stories about Christopher Robin, Winnie-the-Pooh, and the other denizens of the Hundred Acre Wood manages to imitate some of the features of Milne's prose style and incorporate some of the features of the original texts: Pooh loves honey and composes hums, Eeyore is gloomy, Tigger is bouncy, and a new inhabitant shows up (Lottie the otter). Christopher Robin arrives home from school (on a bicycle!) for a poignant reunion and then heads back to school for a poignant departure. The various episodes are pleasant (especially the creation of a school in the forest with Eeyore as headmaster), but there is not one to rival Pooh stuck in Rabbit's door, Piglet's bath at Kanga's house, the search for the Heffalump, or Poohsticks—nor even to be mentioned in the same breath. Burgess's illustrations do somewhat better at recreating the spirit of Ernest Shepard—the book is an attractive and appealing volume, lovely to hold. The real question that needs to be asked is: why create such a book at all? Burgess gives a reasonable answer: because we want to believe that somewhere "a little boy and his Bear will always be playing." Those who feel that this is answer enough may be grateful for these stories. Others will not. Reviewer: Claudia Mills, Ph.D.

Children's Literature - Claudia Mills

Gr 1–4—Eighty years after the publication of the original "Winnie the Pooh" stories, this authorized sequel returns readers to the familiar characters and locales. Christopher Robin, on holiday from school, rejoins Pooh, timid Piglet, bouncy Tigger, patient Kanga, and his other friends for a summer full of adventure. In 10 stories, the friends put on a spelling bee, conduct a census, search for disappearing bees, start a school, and host a harvest festival. During a drought, they also meet a new resident of the forest, Lottie, an otter who is both forgetful and obsessed with etiquette. Another chapter, which describes a cricket match, may be more challenging for American readers. Fans of Pooh will recognize many elements: Pooh's hums, the animals' creative spelling, Piglet's fear of Heffalumps, and the maps on the endpapers. What's different is Christopher Robin; a year older, he seems less innocent, more in the role of an older sibling than a playmate. In addition, most members of the large cast of characters appear in each chapter, which feels a bit overwhelming. The writing is warm and humorous, though it doesn't quite match the charm and whimsy of the originals. Burgess's watercolor illustrations, on the other hand, are quite reminiscent of Shepard's. Pooh purists may find fault, but the book will likely be popular with many young readers and their parents.—Jackie Partch, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR

School Library Journal