Lets Read with Winnie the Pooh and His Friends

From the time my children were newborns, we have exposed them to books, and thanks to gifts from others, we have amassed quite a home library. My daughter was always a big Winnie the Pooh fan, and loved to carry things around the house, so this Winnie the Pooh and Friends boxed set of books with a handle was perfect for her as a preschooler.

The box itself has an ISBN number of 1570827117 and measures about 6" by 8" inches, with a plastic handle on top for easy carrying. A single velcro closure makes the box easy for children to open, yet keeps the books inside if it gets turned upside down. The box itself is adorable, with a picture of Winnie the Pooh hugging Piglet on the front and Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and Eeyore watching shooting stars in the sky. The two sides show all of the Hundred Acre Woods characters, with their names printed in black near each picture. Owl, Rabbit, Tigger and Christopher Robin are on one side and Eeyore, Kanga & Roo, Piglet and Pooh are on the other side.

Inside the box are four board books, each measuring 7 5/8" by 5.5", so that there is a little extra room between the books and the interior sides of the box, making it easy for children to replace the books without getting frustrated. Each book has a similar cover, with a light colored forest background and "Walt Disney's Winnie the Pooh and his Friends" printed on the top. In the center of the cover is an oval with the title of the story printed in red on a yellow background and an illustration from the story under the title. The title is also printed in black along the spine, so that it can be seen if you remove the books from the box and place them on a shelf.

Winnie the Pooh and Friends includes:

Blackberry Surprise - After Owl tells Piglet that there is a surprise by his treehouse, Piglet wakes Winnie the Pooh up so that they can see what the surprise is. Pooh is so excited that in his rush to get dressed, he forgets to take his nitecap off and does not realize that until they are in the forest, so he has to keep it with him. The surprise was a blackberry bush and Pooh and Piglet want to bring some back for all of their friends, but they don't have a pail. . . but, they have Pooh's nitecap whey they fill with blackberries. Later at Pooh's house, all of their friends gather to enjoy blackberry pie and cheer for Pooh's nitecap and Owl's blackberry bush.

Roo's Big Adventure - When Tigger asks Roo to play Hide and Seek, Roo protests, claiming that Tigger always wins. Tigger talks Roo into playing, and Roo hides while Tigger counts. Roo finds a great hiding spot, inside a hollow log, but when Tigger goes to look for him, he is unsuccessful. Tigger gives up and calls out for Roo stating that he cannot find him . . . but Roo still does not appear. A worried Tigger gets help from Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit and Christopher Robin to help, and finally they find him, fast alseep inside the log. Finally, Roo wins at Hide and Seek!

A Reel Fishy Story - As Winnie the Pooh is getting ready to go fishing, Piglet points out that he never actually catches any fish. Pooh still wants to go and suggests that Piglet comes along to bring him good luck, and Piglet agrees because he wants to go swimming. At the river, Pooh settles down with his fishing pole and Piglet floats in the water. Soon Pooh feels a tug on his line and reels in Piglet! Pooh is upset because he thinks that he still has not caught a fish, but Piglet says that actually, he has. If you look at the illustration on he last page of the book, you can see a fish sticking out of Piglet's bathing suit as he hands from Pooh's fishing pole.

Night Time Mystery - One night Piglet was in bed, but this very small animal heard some very big noises, including tapping on his window. Concerned that it was a monster, the next day he asks all of his friends if they had seen the monster, but nobody had. Since Piglet could not sleep at night if he thought that there was a monster outside his home, his good friend Winnie the Pooh, stood guard at the window for him. When they heard the tapping, Pooh pulled back the curtain to reveal that the "monster" was only a branch being blown against the window. Piglet was relieved and finally able to get to sleep.

The stories are kept simple, and all revolve around friendship in some manner. Each of the board books is ten pages long, with about three short sentences on each page, so that young children are able to sit through the stories. The illustrations cover the entire page, and the black text is easy to read as it is always on a light background. At least one (and usually more than one) Hundred Acre Wood character is on each page, so that children want to look at the pages to see their expressions and what the characters are doing.

The retail price of this boxed set is $9.98, which is a fair price for four books in their own case. The books themselves are durable and though the cardboard of our carrying case is worn, it has protected the books nicely for a number of years. This Winnie the Pooh and Friends boxed set makes a great gift for a toddler or preschooler, as well as a nice addition to a baby shower gift, as these characters are loved by both boys and girls.