| Winnie the Pooh: The Complete Collection of Stories and Poems was originally published in 1994, but this beautifully produced slip-cased edition has been specially created to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the publication of the very first stories about Winnie the Pooh. It consists of the classic, well-loved, tried-and-tested stories by AA Milne, from "Winnie the Pooh" (1926), "The House at Pooh Corner" (1928) and the poetry from "When We Were Very Young" (1924) and "Now We Are Six" (1927). Here is Edward Bear coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it. And then he feels that perhaps there isn't. Anyhow, here he is at the bottom, and ready to be introduced to you. Winnie-the-Pooh. So begins the opening sentences of chapter one of this wonderful book "in which we are introduced to Winnie-the-Pooh... and the stories begin". Although the stories are aimed at young children, older children (i.e.,adults!) of all ages will be able to recapture the wonderful Pooh stories of their childhood, remembering once again playing at Pooh sticks, reading about Hundred Acre Wood and finding out why Edward Bear is called Winnie-the-Pooh. Was he really named after a swan? The poems are not as well-known as the Pooh stories, but nevertheless some of them are ones to which children can still relate today, even though they were written 75 years ago when, in some circles, nannies and nurseries were commonplace. Half Way Down
Half way down the stairs
Is a stair
Where I sit
There isn't any
Other stair
Quite Like
It
I'm not at the bottom
I'm not at the top
So this is the stair
Where
I always
Stop
This exquisite book will make an excellent gift for young and old alike. --Susan Naylor
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