Christopher Robin Assures Pooh, Piglet and Tigger of a Happy New Year

We’ve reached the beginning of 2011, which means that it’s also time for a new calendar. My experience working in a calendar kiosk tells me that it’s pretty common for people to wait until after Christmas to buy a calendar, since that’s when the discounts begin. Some even wait as long as February. In Happy New Year, Pooh!, Pooh doesn’t realize that he needs a new calendar at all. All he knows is that all the months are gone, a fact that has him perplexed, Tigger aghast and Piglet just plain depressed.

None of this sounds very happy, but the friends decide to commemorate the year behind them by making up a poem about it. There’s something special about each month, and Pooh suggests that they celebrate instead of mourning the months that are no more. Even Tigger gets in on the act, despite his insistence that poetry is definitely not what Tiggers do best. In fact, he shows a rather impressive grasp of internal rhyme when he talks about how he’ll miss “May-sy’s crazy daisy chains”.

Piglet contributes more than Tigger does, generally with a sad little sniffle, but Pooh does the bulk of the composing himself. He takes a typically humble Pooh approach to this, explaining, “You can’t think a poem, really; it just has to come to you.” This isn’t Milne-quality Pooh-etry, but it’s a nice basic way of acknowledging the passing of seasons. Children who read it may even be inspired to write their own odes to the months.

I’m not sure how it is that Tigger, Pooh and Piglet all managed to forget that they’ve experienced these months more than once, but time does have a funny way of getting away from you in the Hundred Acre Wood. Bears of Little Brain might not be able to keep many thoughts in their noggins, but Christopher Robin can always be counted upon to clear up any confusion. Just the cover illustration assures young readers that all will end happily.

This book is written in fairly simple prose when it’s not focusing on the calendar poem. I’d say about half the book is poetry and half is just regular narration and dialogue. The illustrations are colorful and pretty detailed. My favorite is either the full-page springtime picture, in which Pooh holds an umbrella to keep himself and a daisy-chain-making Piglet out of the rain, or the September illustration that shows Owl and Eeyore gazing over the edge of the Poohsticks Bridge. All of the major characters make at least one appearance, with the exception of Gopher, who often is left out, partly because he spends most of his time underground, partly because he’s a bit of an interloper to begin with. Still, I’ve always liked him.

But this is a cute book to ring in the new year with, inviting happy anticipation of the months to come.