How we cite our quotes: (Book Title.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Eeyore wasn't listening. He was taking the balloon out, and putting it back in again, as happy as could be...(Winnie-the-Pooh.6.152)
You know how young children can do the same thing over and over again? How the simplest activity can be really engaging? Like playing peek-a-boo, catch, or clicking a clicky pen over and over again. Turns out, this is developmentally appropriate. There's no better way to learn about something really well than repeating it to exhaustion.
Quote #2
"Yes!" said Roo. "Look at me sw—"and down he went over the next waterfall into another pool. (Winnie-the-Pooh.8.115)
Roo is the youngest character in the book, though Tigger may be about the same in terms of juvenile behavior. Milne characterizes him as having unbridled enthusiasm. Since Roo is too young to understand the possible negative repercussions of falling into a rushing stream (i.e. drowning), all he sees is the fun. Who cares if it's not real swimming?
Quote #3
"And that letter is a 'P,' and so is that, and so is that, and 'P' means 'Pooh,' so it's a very important Message to me, and I can't read it." (Winnie-the-Pooh.9.26)
Milne has a unique understanding of stages of development. We've talked about taking other peoples' perspectives, but here's a great view of educational stages too. Sure, one way of looking at this is that Pooh is mistaken, and he can't read. But there's another way. Pooh is in the emergent stage of literacy development. He recognizes at least one letter, "P" and he connects it to the word that he knows with that letter, "Pooh." This is an early step among many on the way to being able to read for real.