53. The Best Bear in All the World. Paul Bright, Brian Sibley, Jeanne Willis, Kate Saunders. 2016. 115 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars, audio book, Winnie the Pooh sequel]
First sentence: "Ninety?" said Winnie the Pooh. "Is that more than seven?" "Yes, Pooh," said Kanga patiently. "You're ninety years old, which calls for a celebration."
Premise/plot: Four new stories starring Winnie the Pooh and all his friends from the Hundred Acre Woods. There is a story set in Autumn (in which Pooh and Piglet prepare to meet a Dragon). There is a story set in Winter (in which Penguin arrives in the forest). There is a story set in spring (in which Eeyore suspects another donkey is after his thistles). There is a story set in summer (in which Pooh dreams of the Sauce of the Nile).
My thoughts: I have wanted to READ this one for years. But the library didn't have it in print. I saw it on audio book and thought I'd give it a try. I didn't like it much on audio. BUT I realize that could be the narrator being a disappointment in doing ALL the characters in unique voices. I realize that no one can DO the character voices like Disney does. I wasn't expecting it to be amazing. But I wanted it to be better than it was. I also think that the book would have been more enjoyable, perhaps, if it had had ONE author instead of four. The stories are just decent. These aren't "new" stories or "original" stories so much as slightly changing and adapting a few stories and having them happen again slightly differently.
Perhaps audio wasn't the best way to experience this book since I missed out on the illustrations. AND it's certainly possible that reading the book in print with the more proper voices in my head narrating might have led me to like it better.
© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
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