British Novels Which Have Added To The Language

No. 9 Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne

This is a much-loved children’s classic about a boy, a bear, a little pig and various other animals who live in a wood. It has been translated into many languages since it was written in 1925 so, chances are, you already know the characters and stories.

Words & Phrases

Eeyore /ˈiːɔːr/  (n.) a very negative or pessimistic person Stop being such a Eeyore, everything might be fine in the end. 

Eeyoreish (adj.) gloomy, pessimistic, depressed.

Pooh Sticks (n.) a game which involves throwing twigs into the water from one side of a bridge and seeing whose twig emerges first from the other side of the bridge. The World Pooh Sticks Championship takes place in Oxfordshire every year.

Excerpt from Chapter One

One day when he was out walking, he came to an open place in the middle of the forest, and in the middle of this place was a large oak-tree, and, from the top of the tree, there came a loud buzzing-noise.

Winnie-the-Pooh sat down at the foot of the tree, put his head between his paws and began to think.

First of all he said to himself: “That buzzing-noise means something. You don’t get a buzzing-noise like that, just buzzing and buzzing, without its meaning something. If there’s a buzzing-noise, somebody’s making a buzzing-noise, and the only reason for making a buzzing-noise that I know of is because you’re a bee.”

Then he thought another long time, and said: “And the only reason for being a bee that I know of is making honey.”

And then he got up, and said: “And the only reason for making honey is so as I can eat it.” So he began to climb the tree

He climbed and he climbed and he climbed and as he climbed he sang a little song to himself. It went like this:

Isn’t it funny

How a bear likes honey?

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

See also: Disney has adapted many of the stories.