The House at Pooh Corner

English author A.A. Milne came up with the idea for Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends in 1921 after he watched his son Christopher Robin play with his stuffed animals and saw him give them various voices and character traits. Christopher’s stuffed bear, originally named Edward, was renamed Winnie-the-Pooh after they visited the London Zoo and fell in love with a Canadian black bear named Winnie and merged it with pet swan named Pooh.  

Milne later added Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Owl, Rabbit, and Tigger to the 100 Acre Wood, based on the Ashdown Forest in southern England, located near their family home.

I’ve always loved the stories for their simple values: believing in yourself, the importance of kindness and empathy for others, positive thinking, creative problem solving, the value of doing nothing, embracing life, and the power of friendships. 

You can’t go wrong with Winnie or any of his friends. They’re always good for a laugh or two or a simple lesson: “If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you” or “Rivers know this: There is no hurry. We shall get there some day.”

There’s lots of great stories out there, but Winne-the-Pooh remains one of my favorites, even as an adult, but he and his friends left me struggling for an answer last week when I was asked in an interview whether Eeyore or Tigger was my favorite? I write about the question in my post You decide: Team Eeyore or Team Tigger? today on The Heart of the Matter. 

Check out my answer and let me know what you think of my response. Talk about your trick questions. How would you have responded? If only they had given more a heads-up.

Related Story:

You decide: Team Eeyore or Team Tigger?

on The Heart of The Matter.

43 thoughts on “The House at Pooh Corner”

  1. I absolutely adored the Winnie-the-Pooh stories as a child. Each was filled with such powerful lessons that I suspect I absorbed without even realizing it at the time. This brings back such great memories for my, Brian. Thank you!

    Liked by 1 person

  3. I’d choose Roo, so I could have a ride once in a while. Long ago a pet parakeet was buried in our Hundred Acre Woods at the edge of our back yard. And when son Dan was small, we loved spending the day at Des Moines’ Living History Farms. There’s a waiting period until the tractor and wagon arrives to take you back to the main farm, but we amused ourselves by playing Pooh Sticks from a nearby bridge over a stream.

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    1. You reminded me of a story Joy. Several years ago, we grabbed our high school-aged son and made the long drive to visit our daughter at college. It was her senior year and she was under a lot of stress. We figured lunch and a quick trip to a local park might help. We all went for a short walk. My wife and I turned our back, the next thing we see is our daughter and our son playing Pooh Sticks. We knew then that the both of them were going to be alright. Ha ha. Love your choice of Roo!!!!!😎😎😎

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  4. When my daughter was little, Pooh was the theme of her nursery. When she was little, we used the Pooh characters to describe how she was feeling…active- tigger, scared-piglet, grumpy-eeyore, etc

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    2. I’m going to add that to my reading list, too. There’s much wisdom in those apparently simple words. One of my favorites is:

      “What day is it?”
      “It’s today,” squeaked Piglet.
      “My favorite day,” said Pooh.

      Liked by 2 people

  9. These are both great articles. I have to admit, I never actually read Milne’s classic but have been saying I want to. I’m writing it on my library list right now. You’ve inspired me. I hope I don’t get asked to choose which character I am before I read it!

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    1. Oh yes, you can Brenda! I understand why some folks don’t like the stories. The story has become Disneyfied (my word) which is always a danger. But even without disneys involvement, I know some folks have issues with how it handles depression, loneliness, etc. I get it.

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  13. I loved your answer to that question, Brian and I agree the world of Milne and Pooh is great.

    Now that the work is out of copyright, did you hear about or watch the horror movie take on Pooh? It came out last year and we’ll, it’s worth a chuckle to read about.

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  14. So many wonderful characters in Winnie-The-Pooh! I love Pooh and Christopher Robin and the whole crew, but I’ve always had a soft spot for Piglet. He’s kind, unassuming, helpful and thoughtful, and a good friend to Pooh, always a bit cautious. But he isn’t a goody two shoes or boring. For instance, there’s the time he’s hurrying because he’s so excited to give Eeyore a balloon– and trips and falls on the balloon, popping it.

    I, too, “love Milne because of his focus on human frailty and perseverance. We make mistakes, we fall down, but we get up and move on and learn from them.” (quoting from your other awesome blog)

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  15. It’s tough (especially during an interview) when you are given the choice of one or two options and neither one is truly correct. I honestly don’t remember Pooh as part of my childhood, but my adoring for the stories came strong when I began to encourage my inner child. I’m not Tigger – I don’t have that kind of energy that knows no bounds. I can honestly relate to Eeyore in day-to-day life, though that gloom is exactly what I’ve just begun working on. But as you said in your other post, who doesn’t love Pooh himself? His honesty, his naivete and his compassion and love for those around him are always present in his aura. I’m pretty sure I’m not Piglet or Owl or Kanga or Roo or Rabbit, either!

    My favorite quote is, “Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.”

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