Pooh's Workout Book

by Ethan Mordden, Ernest H. Shepard (Illustrator), A.A. Milne (Contributor)

Move over, Jane Fonda!

The world's favorite--and just slightly overweight--bear is here with the last word on fitness.

Whatever body type you are--Pooh Shape, Tigger Shape, Piglet Shape--this book provides the only Sensible Exercise Program you'll ever need.
--back cover

Genres: Humor, Fiction, Childrens

170 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

A narrator with a fitness fixation invades the Hundred-Acre Wood and tries to convince the Pooh friends to take up exercise regimens.

The first and final chapters carry the day as Ethan Mordden manages to capture A. A. Milne's style quite well and has the Pooh friends staying true to themselves even as the narrator attempts to change and improve them.

The middle of the book drags quite a bit, unfortunately, as Mordden tries to turn every Ernest H. Shepard picture with even a little bit of motion in it into an unimpressive form of exercise for the Pooh friends. He also pads out the book by dropping in long segments of text from Milne's original, and it's always a mistake to remind the reader of what they could be having instead of the imitation they've got.

Still, it finishes strong with an amusing marathon that will please any child who can get past the sagging middle section (an apt description of mine and Pooh's general shapes, by the way).


FOR REFERENCE:

Contents: Introduction -- 1. Planning a Fitness Program -- 2. Exercises for the Tigger Shape -- 3. Exercises for the Pooh Shape -- 4. Exercises for the Piglet Shape -- 5. Exercises That Get Something Done -- 6. An Exercise for Savage Weather -- 7. Stretch-and-Flex Exercises -- 8. Water Sports -- 9. Making Up Personal Workout Charts -- 10. The Forest Exercise Club -- 11. The Forest Marathon -- 12. An Exercise for Resting Up After


(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... )

[Maja · Rating 1 out of 5]

I genuinely, sincerely don't understand the point of this book. The best way to describe it is like the author wrote a self-insert fanfic where he meets all the characters and very condescendingly explains to them that they're living their lives wrong and need to do more sports. And then just invents a bunch of scenes with that theme but also liberally quotes from existing scenes in the books. It's not really funny, and it doesn't even really try to teach you anything through this framing. Very bizarre that something like this can be published.

[Ian Roseen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weirdest book I have ever read. Cannot quite figure out who the intended audience is, unless… is it… just… ME?? Cute book, regardless! Putting it on my son’s bookshelf.

[GONZA · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mir ist nicht klar, der Sinn dieses Buches: es ist nicht lustig, es ist nicht lehrreich und es ist nicht einmal philosophisch wie "The Tao of Winnie the Pooh". Ich hatte erwartet nicht nur etwas anders, aber am wenigstens etwas.

To me is not clear the sense of this book: it is not funny, it is not instructive and it is not even philosophical such as "The Tao of Winnie the Pooh." I was expecting not only something different, but at least something.

Non mi é chiaro il senso di questo libro: non fa ridere, non é istruttivo e non é nemmeno filosofico come per esempio "Il tao di Winnie Poh". Mi aspettavo non solo qualcosa di diverso, ma almeno qualcosa.

[Kasandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Captures the spirit and essence of the Hundred Acre Wood and its denizens, which is quite a feat. Though the jacket copy advertises both Heffalump Avoidance Tips, and a Smackerel Chart, I saw neither. Still, delightful. Jumping and Squeaking may be my new favorite exercise, under Exercises for the Piglet Shape...

[Maryellen Wilson]

Am reading a chapter a night over the phone to my daughter who lives in Manhattan. It's very clever and well-done. We have two chapters to go.

[Miles Gould · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very strange book - a piece of officially-licensed self-insert fanfiction, by an author best-known for chronicling the New York gay and Broadway scene, in which the narrator attempts to interest the forest creatures in the joys of exercise. I guess Jane Fonda had just put out a workout video, so why not Winnie-the-Pooh? It's an uphill struggle for the narrator, as most of the animals are more interested in little smackerels of something than in sets and reps, but he perseveres, eventually managing to... well, that would spoil the Surprise, wouldn't it?

The book shows a deep knowledge of Winnie-the-Pooh lore, though it's rather lighter on the sports science - though his focus on tailoring an exercise regime to the individual's Shape was decades ahead of its time. The many helpful Boxes and Diagrams (illustrated, as always, by E.H. Shepard) are a delight to behold. The passages taken from the Pooh canon show the many ways in which one can incorporate Exercise into one's life. And, at its best, the book is delightfully funny: many of the lines have stayed with me since I first read it decades ago.

All in all, a triumph of whatever-the-heck-it's-supposed-to-be. It will have pride of place on my bookshelf, next to Training for the New Alpinism.

[Adele · Rating 2 out of 5]

The mimicking of Milne's style and tone and most of the characters' personalities is actually quite decent, but the narrator of this parody plays a much larger role than Milne's original narrator, which is unfortunate since this narrator is even more tiresome, bossy, and annoying than the original. Pooh and friends appear to get rather tired of him and his pontificating on a narrow and rigid view of exercise by the end, but I was tired of him well before that. Not even lots of excerpts and illustrations from the original books kept this from being a slog to get through.

[Prinzessin von der Poebel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Das Buch habe ich mit meinem Sohn zum einschlafen gelesen. Leider war es so langatmig, dass es wenig zu ge- und entspannter Ruhe führte. Ein paar niedliche Szenen und Zeichnungen sorgen für den 2. Punkt.

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

So ein süßes Buch! Nur schade, dass Christopher Robin immer "dummer alter Bär" zu Pu sagt und der als "ohne Verstand" deklariert wird. Aber sonst - absolut süß!

[Sean]

Cute story about Pooh & friends trying to work out.

[Sherri Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were parts I really liked and then parts I didn't. But it is Winnie the Pooh .....

[Tabitha]

3.5 stars. This short read was worth the time. I liked the comically scientific attempts at trying to create exercise protocols for all different shapes in the hundred acre wood. I appreciated that the author initially felt there was a set definition for exercise but came to recognize that different people have different needs and that its up to the individual. However, exercises came with a few reasonable caveats (e.g. not overcompensating for active time by overeating treats or excessively rewarding yourself).

The best part of this book (beyond its illustrations and nods back to the original pooh stories) was the emphasis on self care and "listening to the sky". Essentially, he pointed out the importance of being still and letting yourself rest, breathe, be creative, and relax to replenish yourself. Like active exercise, this looks different for each person.

If you want to read it and personally know me, I'm happy to loan it.

[svm · Rating 3 out of 5]

nein, i did not read the german version! but this was the only one with a picture for the cover. the title in english is pooh's workout book. i picked it up on a used rack in a café years ago. it's actually sort of an anti-workout book as the "trainer", identified only as "i", tries to convince the creatures of the hundred-acre wood to develop a fitness program. they are quite resistant to this intrusion in their lives! the dialogue is peppered with excerpts from the original books. this was a charming read.

[Hope · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book randomly on a used bookstore shelf; I'm so glad I did.

This is a delightful little book! The author has a good feel for the character voices, and even manages to learn something himself while trying to teach the denizens of the Hundred Acre Wood about exercise.

[Jenna Kallio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hyväntuulinen ja suloinen kirja, Puhia ei voi vihata!