Many people would describe Winnie the Pooh as fantasy. Why is it placed in the adventure section of our anthology? What is the difference between adventure and fantasy? Additionally, why do you think this text has remained a classic for so long? What are the characteristics or components of a children’s classic? 

Winnie the Pooh is categorized as adventure because the characters of Winnie the Pooh always go on adventures with Christopher Robin. Every book or movie they do something new. There is always a new task or adventure. Also, usually something always goes wrong, however Winnie the Pooh usually, or one of the other characters saves the day. They all work as a team, too, to get through their discovery and adventures! Plus it is also considered an adventure story because they are animals and they are outdoors, in the Hundred Acre Woods.  

I would describe an adventure story as a very realistic or embellished event of happenings that are bold, risky and full of mischief in the unknown world. Adventures are stories of people going on hikes in mountains, river rafting and coming across a giant waterfall, kids exploring their back yards and people playing or coming across big, scary animals. Fantasy, on the other hand, is more mystical and very unrealistic. People have magic powers; they can fly, and put spells on people. I think of stories like Harry Potter and Eragon. I think of witches riding on horses and unicorns, wearing capes and heading toward some kind of tower or castle. They have adventures with the darker side of things.  

Finally, I think what makes the Winnie the Pooh stories and characters so popular and their popularity is long lasting is because the stories have all been written well. Most kids love the characters of the Winnie the Pooh bunch. They are lovable and each has distinct characteristics that make then unique and cute! Kids can laugh and smile with these characters because they are silly and not the brightest crayon in the box. They always get themselves in sticky (pun intended) situations. The excerpt from the Winnie the Pooh book, “Chapter VIII, In Which Christopher Robin Leads an Expotition to the North Pole,” is a good example of why it is an adventure story. Christopher Robin took the Pooh team to “discover the North Pole.” Pooh and the gang were excited because they had never been there before. Christopher Robin usually introduces them to something new like this and shows them the way. Roo found some water and went swimming and they found the North Pole.