Fun Reads Friday: Sing Ho! for the life of a bear

My writing journey began with Edward Bear.

Way, way back in 1966, which is even longer ago than last Tuesday, my family gifted me a book of Edward Bear’s many adventures for my seventh birthday. That volume still has a place of honor on my bookshelf.

I didn’t know then that I would become a writer. But I’m sure that the lyrical prose that played music in my head cemented my love for whimsy, wonder, and words.

You know Edward Bear, too, but most likely by his other name. Author A.A. Milne tells it this way:

If you happen to have read another book about Christopher Robin, you may remember that he once had a swan (or the swan had Christopher Robin, I don’t know which) and that he used to call this swan Pooh. That was a long time ago, and when we said goodbye, we took the name with us, as we didn’t think the swan would want it any more. Well, when Edward Bear said that he would like an exciting name all to himself, Christopher Robin said at once, without stopping to think, that he was Winnie-the-Pooh. And he was.

Yes, yes, I know, this is a book review day, in which we explore exciting new titles. But it’s 2020 and my heart hurts. Just for a while, I need to brush aside high-octane stories jammed with villains, angst, noise and drama, and lie in the grass in front of the House at Pooh Corner.

The gentleness is as comforting as a plate of warm chocolate chip cookies, a glass of cold milk and a soft pillow. And perhaps a pawful of honey.

Winnie-the-Pooh and the subsequent volumes in the series by Milne, introduce us to a cast of characters with a beautiful blend of personalities—curious Pooh, nervous Piglet, pompous Owl, and resigned Eeyore, among others.

Still, it’s Milne’s delightful way with words that tickles my brain. Consider:

Sometimes he thought sadly to himself, “Why?” and sometimes he thought, “Wherefore?” and sometimes he thought, “Inasmuch as which?”—and sometimes he didn’t quite know what he was thinking about. So when Winnie-the-Pooh came stumping along, Eeyore was very glad to be able to stop thinking for a little, in order to say, “How do you do?” in a gloomy manner to him.

“And how are you?’ said Winnie-the Pooh.

Eeyore shook his head from side to side.

“Not very how,” he said. “I don’t seem to have felt at all how for a long time.”

Or try this, one of my favorite Winnie-the-Pooh quotes: If the person you are talking to doesn’t appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear.

You can even find great writing advice in these pages. In Chapter 8, a phrase for a new song hits Pooh—“Sing Ho! for the life of a bear.”

When he had got as far as this, he stretched his head, and thought to himself “That’s a very good start for a song, but what about the second line?” He tried singing “Ho,” two or three times, but it didn’t seem to help. “Perhaps it would be better,” he thought, “if I sang Hi for the life of a bear.” So he sang it … but it wasn’t. “Very well, then,” he said, “I shall sing the first line twice, and perhaps if I sing it very quickly, I shall find myself singing the third and fourth lines before I have time to think of them, and that will be a Good Song.”

And it was. But I’ll let you sing the song with Pooh yourself when you visit the Hundred Acre Wood. I recommend it, no matter how too old you think you are for Pooh Bear. Take a timeout to breathe, to stop and watch the honey bees, and to chuckle at the place where the woozle wasn’t.

Sing Ho! for the life of a bear.