Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Alphabooksbeasts: P is for Pooh and Piglet

I know I still "owe" Alphabooks a canine that starts with O, for last week, but I wanted to get this week's P post done and posted last night, and since it was nearly done when I had to turn in, here it is, slightly out of order.

But you already know: P is for Pooh and Piglet.


I cannot tell you how much I love these guys. They feel as close to me as siblings. I know stretches of the Pooh books by heart, or nearly by heart. If you have not read them, get on it.

Your heart isn't finished until you've read these books to someone.

For the record, yet again: Ernest H. Shepard is one of my cartooning heroes. I do not believe in the Disney Pooh. It is, more and more from year to year, an abomination in my sight.

Next week: rare letters call for high fantasy.
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7 comments:

  1. Curious ArtSeptember 4, 2012 at 1:18 PM

    Hear, hear!! I'm 100% with you on EHS vs. Disney. And Milne's writing is really so lovely too...

    The only good thing about Disney is that the movies do keep the stories alive (albeit dreadfully diminished, like a person on life support) for later generations... not sure if many folks today would even know about Milne, Carroll or Kipling were it not for Disney. What a sad thought.

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  2. IsaacSeptember 4, 2012 at 1:22 PM

    This is why I'm teaching "Popular Literature of the Early 20th Century" this semester. I'm making some college kids read Milne, Kipling, Wodehouse, Christie, Dorothy Parker, George Herriman, James M. Cain, Anita Loos, and Don Marquis!

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  3. Rachel AskewSeptember 4, 2012 at 4:14 PM

    As your sibling, I am happy to rank up there with Pooh and Piglet. I guess you must really love these fictional characters. Yes, I read your blog.

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  4. IsaacSeptember 4, 2012 at 4:23 PM

    It's a different kind of love, Sis. (Obviously?)

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  5. MikeSeptember 4, 2012 at 9:14 PM

    @Rachel: Oh no you didn't!

    @Leah: EHS's writing is no slouch, either. I was really moved by some of the writing in his memoir Drawn from Memory (which also includes some disturbingly good drawings he made as an eight year old!

    @Isaac: Off-line comment headed to your inbox shortly.

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  6. Curious ArtSeptember 12, 2012 at 11:58 AM

    Isaac, bravo on the class! How are the students responding to the works?

    Mike, I'd never heard of the EHS book-- now I'm desperate to read it! Added to my Amazon cart. Thanks!

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  7. IsaacSeptember 12, 2012 at 10:53 PM

    So far they seem to be enjoying the books, but so far we have only read things written for children—very accessible stuff. It'll be more interesting to see what they make of, say, Wodehouse.

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