Book #23: Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff

The Wisdom of Pooh.

Is there such thing as a Western Taoist? Benjamin Hoff says there is, and this Taoist’s favorite food is honey. Through brilliant and witty dialogue with the beloved Pooh-bear and his companions, the author of this smash bestseller explains with ease and aplomb that rather than being a distant and mysterious concept, Taoism is as near and practical to us as our morning breakfast bowl.

Romp through the enchanting world of Winnie-the-Pooh while soaking up invaluable lessons on simplicity and natural living.

I bought this book a while back for two reasons: Winnie the Pooh and Eastern Philosophy. I wanted to be a more learned reader as well as have a larger healthy dose of my personal spiritual beliefs. I don’t have much knowledge of the Tao Te Ching and thought this book would be a good introductory to the philosophical teachings.

I was right. In fact, it was probably best that I used this as the introductory than the actual text. The actual text is poetic and hard to grasp the first and second time reading. I only say this because I had to reread the sourced text in Tao of Pooh. By reading the book with Pooh bear in mind, it helped me understand the system.

It also made me feel better about myself as a person. I’m not stupid and I can be clever, but my most prevalent personality trait is rather simple. I have what we call blonde moments and they are many. Because of that, I actually have a great love for Pooh bear. I always had, even as a child. I have a kinship to the lovable cuddly bear and seeing him more than just a silly little cartoon helped me see me as more than a silly little Cass.

The only problem I have with this book is that despite the small amount of pages, I still had trouble grasping all of it and even staying remotely on the book. I put it down many times and had to reread parts. It could be that it’s because the book is nonfiction, but I think a big part is just the content itself. I would read the book again and I’m thinking of getting The Te of Piglet to go along with this book.