30 Day Blog Challenge Day 16: My Favorite Childhood Book

Map of Pooh's woods

I'm officially in the second half of my 30 day blog challenge. Today's topic is a fun one, but it's another that forces me to make a choice from too many things. I'm asked to choose my favorite childhood book. There are so many. I loved all the Little House books. And I was part of a book club in which I got a book about every month. I loved all of those. Two I remember in particular were Clifford Gets Hatched by Norman Bridwell and The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary. They are both about finding yourself and learning that you are worth something and people love you. Sadly, I can't find any record online of the Clifford book ever existing, but I know for a fact that it does.

The real original stuffed animals that
inspired the stories.

But I would have to say my favorite book as a child was a collection of Winnie the Pooh Stories. I loved Pooh so much. Heck, I still do. Beyond the books, I loved watching him on TV. Things weren't the same back when I was little. You couldn't go on the interwebz and watch anything anytime you want. Getting to see Pooh and Tigger and Rabbit and Kanga and Roo and Eeyore and Christopher Robin was a rare treat then. As much as I love Pooh, I think my favorite character was Eeyore. I remember a story in which Eeyore loses his tale and the whole gang helps him find it. I love that he had a gloomy outlook on the world but everyone still loved him and included him in everything they did.

These are the exact reels
I had.

Another fun memory I have of Pooh is a series of View-Master reels I had. If you never played with a View-Master, your childhood was, to put it bluntly, not as good as mine. The pictures felt so bright and tangible that I could swear I could reach out and touch them.

My last fun memory of Pooh is the wonderful song, "House at Pooh Corner." It was written by Kenny Loggins, but was first recorded by one of my all-time favorite bands, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Their rendition is much more raucous and playful than Loggins' which sounds almost like a lullaby. I'll let you decide for yourself. Here's the Dirt Band version:

And here's the Loggins version: