This week I have found my philosophy of life, contained in the activities of Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Rabbit, Eeyore, Kanga and Roo, Owl and Christopher Robin.

I have always loved the books Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner, finding great affection and companionship in the characters, but when the Tao of Pooh caught my eye on the university library shelves, I found myself appreciating both the writing of AA Milne and Benjamin Hoff’s translation of Pooh et al into Taoist philosophy.

It is an entertaining book, light-hearted with some very deep-rooted thought behind it, but always delivered in a gentle, non-preachy style that brings in our favourite characters as if we are in conversation with them.  It’s a complete contrast to many of the philosophy books I have been trying to read lately, especially in direct contrast to Kant, which I am trying to get my head around at the moment.  From the mental confusion of that, the gentleness and simplicity of The Tao of Pooh is like an iced drink on a boiling hot day, or – more appropriate to the weather today in the UK – a hot soup on a cold winter’s day!!

We may have finished at university until September, but my reading list is as long as ever, and growing by the day!!  This was a gem to start the work with, and despite being written in 1992, was very prophetic in what would happen to the western economies in the last few years.

If you get nothing else from this book, you’ll still have had a good couple of evenings reading with passages to make you chuckle, and others to make you think.  For me, that’s a good thing on its own!

Enjoy.