Friday, September 24, 2010

Return to the Hundred Acre Wood by David Benedictus

After eighty years, the gang (Pooh, Piglet, Owl, Rabbit, Tigger, Kanga, Roo, and Eeyore) have some new adventures. They have a spelling bee, learn to play cricket, make a new friend, and generally have a wonderful time in the Hundred Acre Wood.

What I thought: This book was enchanting and delightful. I'm only sorry to say that it took eighty years to have a new Pooh book. Benedictus did such a good job with the stories. I wouldn't mind seeing another Pooh book by him. The illustrations were quite good. My copies of the original Pooh books have black and white illustrations, so the color was very nice. My one complaint is that Roo looked more like a squirrel than a baby kangaroo. I checked the illustrations in the original books and apparently he looked like that then, too. I don't know how I missed it. I loved Lottie. She's such a sassy girl. My favorite illustration is of Eeyore with all the rabbits on his back. I got tickled when the gang ate cucumber sandwiches. Yum! I have two favorite chapters: Chapter 4 (In Which It Stops Raining For Ever and Something Slinky Comes Out of the River) and Chapter 8 (In Which We Are Introduced to the Game of Cricket).

(Illus. Mark Burgess. New York: Dutton Children's Books, 2009)

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