Every resident of the Hundred-Acre Wood has a defining characteristic or
two. For Eeyore, the most prominent trait is gloominess. He can’t seem
to help it; he’s just naturally down in the dumps, occupying a similar
role to Grumpy Bear in the Care Bears and Oscar the Grouch on Sesame
Street. In the Little Golden Book Eeyore, Be Happy!, written by
Don Ferguson, Eeyore’s morose ways have begun to grate on some of the
others in the Wood. Not only do they want him to be happy out of sheer
friendly good will, they want him to stop making dire prognostications
that put a damper on everyone else’s day.
The general theme of
cheering Eeyore up is one that has permeated many Winnie the Pooh
stories, from the classic Milne story about Eeyore’s birthday to A Donkey for a Day, possibly my favorite episode of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
This book is similar in many ways to the latter, with Pooh, Piglet and
Tigger each taking a turn at trying to show Eeyore a good time.
Christopher Robin is also on board for the afternoon, though he is
mostly there to observe; he doesn’t make any direct recommendations to
Eeyore about how to cheer himself up.
The tone of the story is
fairly comical, as each of the things that the friends suggest is quite
physically taxing. Pooh, Tigger and Piglet are feeling pretty energetic
from the beginning; their visit to Eeyore is prompted by their annoyance
that they refrained from participating in any strenuous activities
because Eeyore’s earthquake prediction led them to spend half the day
hiding under a bridge. It seems they want to make up for lost time with
Eeyore. While Tigger is always energetic and no pastime thrills him more
than bouncing, Pooh and Piglet tend to favor quieter hobbies. In this
book, however, not only does Tigger send Eeyore on a bouncing spree,
Piglet encourages him to take up house painting and Pooh sends him
scrambling up an enormous bee-filled tree to collect honey. No wonder
Eeyore doesn’t feel very cheered up!
The illustration style in
this book is fairly flat, with some shading in the forest backgrounds
but not on the characters themselves, who are marked by thick outlines
and uniform stretches of color. Probably my favorite picture shows a
smiling Christopher Robin crouching next to Eeyore and Tigger, who have
blundered into a mud puddle and are sopping wet and covered in brown
ooze. The illustrations are vibrant and true to character, and the
narrative style is pleasantly direct. The interactive narrator is a
feature of many Pooh books, and while this one never speaks to the
characters, he does directly address the reader, infusing each page with
a gentle storytellerish quality. I especially love this description of
Pooh’s favorite game: “Poohsticks is easy. It was invented by Pooh, who
isn’t a very complicated bear.”
Eeyore is a creature who likes
to be appreciated. Sometimes, however, he also likes to be left alone.
Figuring out what type of day he is having can be tricky. In the gently
humorous Eeyore, Be Happy!, the donkey’s friends learn that what
makes one person happy might not work for another person. Sometimes, a
grump just wants to brood. Eeyore appreciates the gesture, but it turns
out he kinda likes that invisible raincloud over his head. Hence, this
book celebrates individuality, while also lauding the kindness that Pooh
and his friends show to the despondent donkey, even if it turns out to
be misplaced. Perhaps a more suitable title would be Eeyore, Be Happy – But Only If You Want to Be!
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