Pooh's Best Friend

Winnie the Pooh First Readers #7

by Isabel Gaines, Tim Jones (Illustrator)

Winnie the Pooh gets lots of advice before deciding that of all his friends, Piglet is definitely his best friend.

Genres: Picture Books, Fiction, Childrens

34 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pooh thinks about who is his best friend. He does this by going to his friends one by one and asking them about what makes a friend. It's the same old way of doing things in a Pooh story, but sweet at heart. I was surprised that Christopher Robin was left out of the best friend contest though. (The reader version of my review from yesterday for Disney's Pooh's Best Friend by Ann Braybrooks.)

Side note: This book is a cataloging nightmare because there are two distinct versions by two different authors that share the title, with one being a slightly reworded adaptation or abridgment of the other. Both books use the exact same interior illustrations by artist Tim Jones.

The Ann Braybrooks version has the ISBNs 0786843462 -- with Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 97-65954 -- and 0786831529 (ISBN13: 9780786831524). Copyright is 1998. It seems to have been released only with an attached friendship bracelet kit and includes 8 pages of bracelet-making instructions after the story. Braybrooks is credited on the cover and title page. The opening sentences are, "One fine spring day, while Winnie the Pooh was having a smackeral of honey, he got to thinking about friends. He had many friends. But who was his best friend in the Hundred-Acre Wood?"

The Isabel Gaines version has the ISBNs 0786842652 (ISBN13: 9780786842650) -- with Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 98-73265 -- and 078684406X (ISBN13: 9780786844067). Copyright is 1998. It was released as part of the "Winnie the Pooh First Reader" series. Adding to the confusion is that for some printings of the book, Isabel Gaines is credited on the cover, but Ann Braybrooks is credited on the title page in what appears to be an error by the publisher. The opening sentences are, "One fine spring day, Winnie the Pooh got to thinking about friends. He had many friends. But who was his best friend." This version was collected in 2000 in Pooh's Book of Friends and Family -- ISBN 0786832789, ISBN13: 9780786832781 -- where Isabel Gaines is credited as the author on the cover and on the title page of the story.

Based on the order of the Library of Congress Catalog Card Numbers, it might be assumed the Braybrooks version came first, and then Isabel Gaines adapted it by simplifying the vocabulary to make it more appropriate for the reader format.

(My Pooh Project: I love Winnie the Pooh, and so does my wife. Having a daughter gave us a chance to indoctrinate her into the cult by buying and reading her every Pooh book we came across. How many is that? I’m going to count them this year by reading and reviewing one every day and seeing which month I finally run out. Track my progress here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list... )

[Audric the Illiterate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Put some pants on, Pooh.

[Amber’s Book Nook · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was definitely acute story. I always thought Piglet was a girl, but it turns out piglets a boy.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually think this Pooh first reader book deserves 5 stars because of the great message. Pooh realizes that a true best friend is someone you can talk to about anything and someone who is more generous to you than themselves. When Pooh realizes that Piglet is his best friend, he brings Piglet a flower and gives him the best spot to sit down because he realizes that Piglet always treats him this way. I also like how these illustrations are a little softer to match the touching story.

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pooh asks different residents of the Hundred Acre Wood what a best friend is and decides his is Piglet.

This is a beginning reader based on the Winnie-the-Pooh universe.