Pooh's Sled Ride Isn't Just for Christmas

It's perfect sledding weather here in Erie, and reading Pooh's Christmas Sled Ride makes me yearn to take advantage of it. It's been ages since I've gone for a proper sled ride. I don't have quite the scenic splendor that Pooh and his friends have, but there are a few decent hills around here worth scaling. Now if I only had a sled...

In this story, a level one Step Into Reading book written by Isabel Gaines and illustrated by Studio Orlando, Christopher Robin has a sled, and a very nice one. Perhaps he got it for Christmas, since there is otherwise nothing in the story to indicate any sort of association with the titular holiday. I'd leave the "Christmas" out of the title and let the reader decide when the sledding takes place. Additionally, as with Pooh's Valentine, this story is less about Pooh than Piglet; I would think Piglet's name would be just about as recognizable as Pooh's, so why is the bear getting all the glory?

Christopher Robin's sled is red with gold runners - though for some strange reason, the cover shows a brown sled with silver runners. The version inside the book is more festive-looking, but both are conveniently spacious, just the right size for a young boy and seven of his closest friends. Eeyore decided to sit this one out, and apparently so did Gopher, who is probably the least-used character in Winnie-the-Pooh books, presumably because he was invented not by A. A. Milne but by Walt Disney, so he's sort of an unofficial member of the club.

Of course, this is still Disney through and through, full of bright colors, smiling faces and the versions of Milne's characters that have become so prevalent since The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. The pictures are the most engaging part of the story, which is written in very short, basic sentences so beginning readers can give it a go by themselves.

The story, in which Piglet falls off the sled every time they go whizzing down the hill, is very repetitive, but that's so the friends can try a new technique on each trip for keeping Piglet from taking a tumble. It's a basic lesson in trial and error, helping children to understand the value of persistence. I'm impressed with Piglet here for sticking it out; I might think such a very small animal might turn around and head home after the first fall from the sled, but evidently Piglet draws enough strength from his friends that he is willing to risk another fall. Or maybe he's just secretly fond of flying through the air!

Pooh's Christmas Sled Ride is a vibrant, lively tale for early readers and advanced Pooh enthusiasts alike to enjoy.