I always enjoyed word books growing up. As a reader, they ideally would
introduce me to new words or at least help me figure out how to spell
words I already knew. As a writer, I found them a fun way to construct a
book for someone so that it could have a personal touch without being
wordy or even really needing a plot. I recall making word books for one
of my brothers and a couple of my cousins, including a mix of
photographs, magazine cut-outs and drawings. Winnie the Pooh’s Big Book of First Words
is much more comprehensive and cohesive than any of my feeble attempts
were. Written by Kathleen W. Zoehfeld and illustrated by Josie Yee, it
really is a big book – too tall to fit on most bookshelves unless
you stick it on its side. It’s also got a lot more words in it than I
ever put in mine. We’re talking hundreds of words, and a few of them
aren’t exactly commonplace.
Throughout the book, what we mostly
have are two-page spreads depicting a particular scene. Off by itself in
a colored box or two is a bit of narration. Everything else is just a
detailed collection of meticulously labeled objects. The first stop is
Pooh’s house, where there are 20 words scattered throughout the two
pages. Most of this is pretty standard stuff like “bed,” “cupboard” and
“table,” though some are a bit more surprising, like the “sunrise”
glimpsed through the window and the “night-light” that is, in fact, a
candle. We next watch Pooh do his stoutness exercises and have an
opportunity to identify several parts of a Pooh’s body.
The
third scene is one of my favorites, as it depicts such lovely woodland
splendor. I’d love to wander along the path with Pooh as he makes his
way to see his friends. It helps that on his way, he encounters three of
my favorite animals: a salamander, a chipmunk and a squirrel. Then it’s
off to Rabbit’s garden for a lesson on some of the things that grow in
the ground and on trees and what tools are used to help nurture them
properly. The next page identifies each of the ten major Hundred-Acre
Wood characters, and the next depicts a makeshift schoolroom complete
with objects as diverse as a chalkboard, blocks, a scrapbook and a map.
There are also spreads devoted to recess activities, lunch, Tigger’s
playroom, Gopher’s workshop, Kanga’s kitchen, Roo’s bathtub, Christopher
Robin’s bedroom and, coming full circle, the outside of Pooh’s house,
which looks more endearingly like a hobbit hole here than in any
depiction I’ve ever seen.
One of my favorite series of pages is the book-within-a-book of Pooh reading The Animal ABC.
There’s an animal for every letter of the alphabet, and it’s fun to
point out those bearing a resemblance to established Disney characters.
For instance, the baboon is a dead ringer for The Lion King’s Rafiki, and the black and white cat looks a lot like Pinocchio’s
Figaro. Not only that, but a couple of the animals here are pretty
unusual. I was especially struck by the Uakari, which is a type of
monkey, and the Vicuna, a relative of the alpaca. I’ve read my share of
animal alphabet books, but I’m pretty sure this is the only one to
mention either of those.
Not only does this book identify
objects, it also teaches about words in different ways. There’s a page
on opposites that creatively uses Pooh and his friends to demonstrate
pairs like “dirty” and “clean” and “happy” and “sad”. On another page,
Owl gives a lesson on colors, while Rabbit gives a lesson on shapes.
Four pages are devoted to Pooh and Piglet wandering through the forest
counting objects and animals, all the way up to “twelve of Rabbit’s
small relations”. Even the inside of the book’s covers get some use, as
the four inner pages are set aside to show things associated with each
of the seasons.
This is quite the extensive book. If anything, I
might almost wonder if Zoehfeld and Yee are trying to do too much all
at once. Words! Numbers! Shapes! Colors! Seasons! It’s enough to make a
little head spin. Then again, there’s nothing saying you have to peruse
the entire book in one sitting. Pooh has a happy habit of meandering
cheerfully through his world in no particular hurry, and I would say
that this would be a good way to approach this book as well. No matter
how long you’ve been reading, Winnie the Pooh’s Big Book of First Words is a colorful celebration of the joy of discovery that awaits with each new day.
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