The Collected Stories of Winnie-the-Pooh (unabr.). 4 CDs. 4:28 hrs. Prod. by Listening Library. Dist. by Listening Library/Books on Tape (library.booksontape.com). 2009. ISBN 978-0-3077-0610-2. $38.
Gr 2-5–In this superb full-cast dramatization, Michael Williams and Judi Dench narrate 20 stories about Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood. The tales are divided into four segments: “Pooh Goes Visiting,” “Piglet Meets a Hefflalump,” “The House at Pooh Corner/Tiger Comes to the Forest,” and “Pooh Invents a New Game.” Stephen Fry voices Pooh and recites the many hums and rhymes to the accompaniment of piano tunes, which also separate the stories. Steven Webb is a perfect Christopher Robin. Jane Horrock’s rendition of Piglet captures his loyalty and friendship to one silly old bear. Geoffrey Palmer’s Eeyore is marvelously melancholy, while Robert Daws’s Rabbit is energetic, and Sandi Toksvig’s Tigger is pleasantly loud and irritating. Besides narrating, Williams is Owl, and Dench is Kanga to Finty Williams’s Roo. Perfectly nuanced sound effects include bird songs, bees humming, the crunch of feet in the snow, branches breaking, and more. Milne has written some of the loveliest prose and poetry in children’s literature, and this extraordinary recording makes it live again for today’s listeners.–Mary Jean Smith, Southside Elementary School, Lebanon, TN
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The Collected Stories of Winnie-the-Pooh (unabr.). 4 CDs. 4:28 hrs. Prod. by Listening Library. Dist. by Listening Library/Books on Tape (library.booksontape.com). 2009. ISBN 978-0-3077-0610-2. $38. 
