There was a guy at work wearing a tigger coat.

“Oh you like Winnie the Pooh?”

“My wife loves him. She has all the movies.”

MOVIES?!

He didn’t even know it was a book. He didn’t care that it was a book.

Poor man.

Winnie is so much cleverer on paper. That’s one of the best things about it, the stories work on a very sophisticated level.

I picked it off the shelf, looking for something to read before I sleep, something that will make me have pleasant dreams.

My copy of A.A. Milne’s book was published in Russia. A student gave it to me as a gift when I was there. She thought I would like to have another book to read in english.

The funny thing about it, is that is has asterisks at the hard to translate bits. In the back, there is a definition of the phrase in Russian. Phrases you wouldn’t expect, like “he lived under the name of Sanders”, and the gender ambiguity of the name “winnie” have to be explained.

Somethings, like “Heffalump” have the explanation saying essentially, “it doesn’t translate.”

It’s nice too, to see a different illustrator’s interpretation of the characters. Disney has permanently stamped his mark on Piglet, Kanga and Rabbit. We cannot concieve of Pooh without the red shirt.

Anyway, that’s just my copy.

Go get your own. Turn off the news and sit down to remember there are pleasant places still.