Gardens, green

This is a lovely book... My one critique would be that sometimes the focus is a bit scattered, especially in the latter half of the book. The author leaps from discussing birds to the game of Poohsticks, then moseys over to insects and includes a sidebar about W.B. Yeats and Ezra Pound. It makes it hard to keep track of what the subject is at any given moment.

Still, it's clear that the author is incredibly passionate about her subject matter, and that makes it pleasurable to read about her experiences and the knowledge she's accumulated - even if the reader does get a bit dizzy from the somewhat-abrupt subject changes from time to time. ( )

An excellent choice if you're in the mood to reminisce about Winnie the Pooh. It's filled with original illustrations, excerpts from the books, and lovely photographs of the landscapes that inspired the stories. I loved all of the photos, as they were everything that I wanted from [b:The Gardener of Versailles: My Life in the World's Grandest Garden|18339812|The Gardener of Versailles My Life in the World's Grandest Garden|Alain Baraton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1385355178s/18339812.jpg|25893174] but didn't find. Though I think I liked the writing a bit more in Baraton's book. ( )

This book reminded me a lot of the Beatrix Potter book I read a while ago. It's divided up into three sections, though somewhat unnecessarily. The first section is all about A.A. Milne and how he was inspired by nature to create the Winnie the Pooh books. In addition, it talks about Ernest H. Shepard who did the illustrations of the Hundred acre woods. The second section tells about various scenes and locations in the Pooh stories and their possible inspirations in Ashdown Forest, near where Milne and family lived. It was amazing seeing the illustrations side-by-side with the real locations. I love the Pooh books so much, and to see some of the aspects in photos was heartwarming. The third section was about the history of Ashdown Woods and all the flora, fauna, animals, and birds who make that part of the world their home.

The beauty of this book is the love the author has for the Winnie-the-Pooh stories as well as the respect for walking and exploring and honoring nature. That comes out so clearly on the pages. This trip into the magical world of my childhood with the silly old bear and his friends, especially Christopher Robin, made me laugh and cry. I didn't want it to end. And I'm definitely inspired to go seek out these places should I find myself in England again.

What I didn't like as much about the book was how there weren't always images matching up with the words. A scene might be described, but there won't be an image right there that corresponds to it for a few pages later, if at all, or vice-versa. There were a few times I had to go hunt through the pages for the map (why wasn't it in the index????) for reference. Sometimes there weren't any corresponding images at all, which was disappointing. Also, because there are three sections, some of the info was repeated (almost word-for-word in different sections. I didn't need that or want that.

Apart from that, I really loved the book. It's not as good as seeing it in person, but definitely a good second. I loved learning so much. For example, Gills Lap is pronounced Jills. But ghylls is pronounced Gills. Yeah, what? heehee My favorite parts were the explanations of the games (championships!) of Poohsticks as well as all the people who actually build Eeyore houses in the Enchanted Place. Awwww. Here's to a wonderful book that really touched my heart. ( )