Child Bedtime Story - Winnie The Pooh Edward Bear -A.A.Milne

Children's bedtime story, Alice reads Winnie the Pooh to help children drift off to sleep at bedtime.
This story is the first chapter of Winnie the Pooh, about "Edward Bear" as written by A.A. Milne.

There is New Zealand birdsong in the background to begin this audio, and continues after the story finishes, and eventually, the birdsong fades at the end.
Before we begin with the story we do a minute or so of breathing and relaxation.

This audio track is approx 28 minutes long.

Source: Milne A.A., Stories of Winnie-the-Pooh: Together with selected poems (Dean, UK, 1992), pp.5-22.

Transcript

Stories of Winnie the Pooh In which we are introduced to Winnie the Pooh and some bees And the stories begin Here is Edward Bear Coming downstairs now Bump,

Bump,

Bump On the back of his head Behind Christopher Robin And Georgia John It is,

As far as they know,

The only way of coming downstairs Yes But sometimes He feels That there really is another way If only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it And then he feels that perhaps there isn't Anyhow,

Here he is at the bottom and ready to be introduced to you Winnie the Pooh When I first heard his name I said,

Just as you were going to say But I thought he was a boy So did I,

Said Christopher Robin So did I,

Said Georgia John And you can't call him Winnie I don't But you said He's Winnie the Pooh Don't you know what the means?

Ah yes,

Now I do,

I said quickly And I hope you do too because it is all the explanation you are going to get Sometimes Winnie the Pooh likes a game of some sort when he comes downstairs And sometimes he likes to sit quietly in front of the fire And listen to a story This evening What about a story,

Said Christopher Robin Yes,

What about a story,

Said Georgia John What about a story,

I said Could you very sweetly tell Winnie the Pooh one?

I suppose I could,

I said What sort of stories does he like?

About himself,

Because he's that sort of bear Oh,

I see So could you very sweetly I'll try,

I said So,

I tried Once upon a time A very long time ago Now,

About last Friday Winnie the Pooh lived in a forest all by himself Under the name of Sanders What does Sanders,

What does under the name mean,

Asked Christopher Robin It means he had the same name over the door on gold letters and lived under it Winnie the Pooh wasn't quite sure,

Said Christopher Robin Now I am,

Said a growly voice But I'll go on,

Said I One day,

When he was out walking He came to an open place in the middle of the forest And in the middle of this place was a large oak tree And from the top of the tree Became a loud buzzing noise Zzzzzzz Winnie the Pooh sat down at the foot of the tree Put his head between his paws And began to think First of all,

He said to himself That a buzzing noise means something You don't get a buzzing noise like that Just buzzing and buzzing Without it meaning something If there's a buzzing noise,

Somebody's making a buzzing noise And the only reason for making a buzzing noise that I know of Is because you are a bee Then he thought another long time and said And the only reason for being a bee that I know of Is making honey And then he got up and said And the only reason for making honey is so as I can eat it So he began to climb the tree He climbed and he climbed And he climbed And as he climbed He sang a little song to himself It went like this Isn't it funny how a bear likes honey Buzz,

Buzz,

Buzz I wonder why he does Then he climbed a little further and a little further And then just a little further By that time he'd thought of another song It's a very funny thought that if bears were bees They would build their nests at the bottom of trees And that being so,

If bees were bears We shouldn't have to climb up all these stairs He was getting rather tired by this time So this is why he sang a complaining song He was nearly there now And if he'd just stood on that branch Crack!

Oh help!

Said Pooh As he dropped ten feet on the branch below him If only I hadn't,

He said As he bounced twenty feet onto the next branch You see,

What I meant to do,

He explained As he turned head over heels And crashed onto another branch thirty feet below What I meant to do Of course,

It was rather,

He admitted And as he slithered very quickly through the next six branches It all comes,

I suppose,

He decided As he said goodbye to the last branch He spun round three times And flew gracefully into a gorse bush It all comes of liking honey so much Oh,

Help!

He crawled out of the gorse bush Brushed the prickles from his nose And began to think again And the first person he thought of Was Christopher Robin and George O'John Was it me?

Said Christopher Robin In an awed voice,

Hardly daring to believe it That was you Christopher Robin and George O'John said nothing But their eyes got larger and larger And their face got pinker and pinker So Winnie the Pooh went round to his friends Christopher Robin and George O'John Who lived behind a green door in another part of the forest Good morning,

Christopher Robin Good morning,

George O'John,

He said Good morning,

Winnie the Pooh,

Said you So you've fallen down Out of the bed,

Have you?

George O'John,

Do you need some help?

Yeah Well,

You should try to stay in the bed next time Okay Right Come on,

Let's get up And back into the bed It's hard to see the bed time It's hard to see the bed time You've got too many clothes on This is too hot for you for summer,

Isn't it?

Okay,

So just go on I'll find a new pajama You said you had to wear blankets Okay,

Let me get Right Maybe you had too many blankets the first time Maybe I'd choose pajamas Yes,

It was the pajamas,

It was too much Okay,

Well carry on with the story Did you say good morning,

George O'John?

Yeah Good I'm not George O'John,

I'm George O'Z Okay,

You're a different one Okay Let's return to Christopher Robin then and George O'John Good morning Christopher Robin and George O'John George O'John Are we changing the name now to George O'Z?

Yeah Instead of George O'John?

Okay Good morning Christopher Robin,

He said Good morning George O'Z Is that right?

Good morning Christopher Robin,

He said Good morning George O'Z,

He said Good morning Winnie the Pooh,

Said you I wonder if you've got such a thing as a balloon about you A balloon?

Yes I just said to myself coming along I wonder if Christopher Robin or George O'Z Have such a thing about them as a balloon Well I just said to myself Thinking of balloons and wondering What do you want a balloon for?

You said Well Winnie the Pooh looked around to see that nobody was listening Which was poured to his mouth And said in a deep whisper Honey But you don't get honey with balloons I do,

Said Pooh Well it just happened That you had been to a party the day before At the house of your friend Piglet And you had been to a party And you had been to a party The day before at the house of your friend Piglet And you had had balloons at the party You had had a big green balloon And one of Rabbits relations had had a big blue one And had left it behind Being really too young to go to a party at all And so you had brought the green one And the blue one home with you Which one would you like?

You asked Pooh He put his head between his paws And thought very carefully It's like this,

He said When you go after honey With a balloon The great thing is Not to let the bees know you're coming Now if you have a green balloon They might think you were only part of the tree And not notice you And if you have a blue balloon They might think you were only part of the sky And not notice you And the question is Which is most likely?

Wouldn't they notice you underneath the balloon?

You asked They might,

Or they might not,

Said Winnie the Pooh You never can tell with bees He thought for a moment and said I shall try to look like a small black cloud That will deceive them Then you had better have the blue balloon You said,

And so it was decided Well,

You both went out with the blue balloon And you took your gun with you just in case As you always did And Winnie the Pooh went to a very muddy place That he knew of What kind of gun is it?

Well it's a toy gun That has a little cork at the end of it Which is a pretend bullet for it Can we go to the other one?

No No Where did I.

.

.

No No No No The thing is,

We've just been saying you said We haven't been saying any names lately,

Georgia Georgia said,

Okay?

No,

We've just been talking about you So if I go back to it It says I did say Yes,

I just said to myself Coming along,

I wonder Just listen again,

I'll repeat it so you can hear Listen carefully Yes,

I just said to myself Coming along,

I wonder if Christopher Robin Or George OZ Have such a thing as a balloon about them I just said it to myself,

Thinking of balloons and wondering What do you want a balloon for?

You said Winnie the Pooh looked around to see that nobody was listening Put his paw to his mouth and said in a very deep whisper Honey!

But you don't get honey with balloons I do,

Said Pooh Well it just happened that you had been to a party the day before You,

As in George OZ And also Christopher Robin So the two of you It just happened that you had both been to a party the day before At the house of your friend Piglet And you had balloons at the party You'd had a balloon And you'd had a balloon And you'd had balloons at the party You'd had a big green balloon And one of Rabbit's relations had had a big blue one And had left it behind being really too young to go to a party at all And so you had brought the green one And the blue one home with you Which one would you like?

You asked Pooh He put his head between his paws and thought very carefully Well it's like this,

He said When you go out to honey with a balloon The great thing is not to let the bees know that you are coming Now if you have a green balloon They might think you were only part of the tree And not notice you And if you have a blue balloon They might think you were only part of the sky and not notice you And the question is which is most likely Would they notice you underneath the balloon?

You asked Oh they might or they might not Said one of the Pooh You never can tell with bees He thought for a moment and said I shall try to look like a small black cloud That will deceive them Then you had better have the blue balloon And the green balloon Then you had better have the blue balloon And so it was decided Well you both went out with a blue balloon And you took your gun with you Just in case as you always do And Winnie the Pooh went to a very muddy place That he knew of And rolled and rolled Until he was black all over And then when the balloon was blown up As big as big And you and Pooh were both holding onto the string You let go suddenly Pooh Bear froze aggressively up into the sky And stayed there He leapt over the top of the tree And about twenty feet away from it Hooray you shouted And some big flying shouted Winnie the Pooh down to you What do I look like?

You look like a bear holding onto a balloon you see Not,

Said Pooh anxiously Not like a small black cloud In the blue sky Not very much Ah well Perhaps from up here it looks different As I say you never can tell with bees There was no wind to blow him nearer to the tree So there he stayed He could see the honey He could smell the honey But he couldn't quite reach the honey After a while he called down to you George O Zed Christopher Robin He's seen him a loud whisper Hello I think the bees suspect something What sort of thing?

I don't know I don't know But something tells me they're suspicious Perhaps they think you're after their honey Maybe that you never can tell with bees There was another silence And then he called down to you again George O Zed Christopher Robin Yes,

You said Have you an umbrella in your house?

I think so I wish you'd bring it out here And walk up and down with it And look up at me every now and then I think if you did that It would help the deception which we are practising on these bees Wow,

You laughed to yourself Silly old bear But you didn't say it aloud Because you were so fond of him And you went home for your umbrella Oh,

There you are Called down when in the poo As soon as you got back to the tree I was beginning to get anxious I had discovered that the bees are now Definitely Suspicious Suspicious Shall I put my umbrella up here You asked Yes,

But wait a moment We must be practical The important bee to deceive Is the queen bee Can you see which is the queen bee from down here?

No,

You said What a pity Well,

Now If you walk up and down With your umbrella saying Tut tut,

It looks like rain I will do what I can By singing a little cloud song Such as a cloud might sing Go So while you walked up and down And wondered if it would rain Winnie the Pooh sang this song How sweet to be a cloud Floating in the blue Every little cloud Always sings a lull How sweet to be a cloud Floating in the blue It makes him very proud It makes him very proud To be a little cloud Bees were still buzzing as suspiciously as ever Some of them indeed Left their nests And flew all around the cloud As it began The second verse of this song And one bee sat down On the nose of the cloud For a moment And then got up again Georgia I said Christopher Robin called out the cloud Yes?

You both said I have just been thinking And I have come to a very important decision These are the wrong sort of bees Are they?

Quite The wrong sort So I should think they would make the wrong sort of honey Shouldn't you?

Would they?

You said Yes,

So I think I should come down How?

You asked Well,

Winnie the Pooh hadn't thought about this If he let go of the string He would fall bump And he didn't like the idea of that So he thought for a long time And then he said Georgia,

He said Christopher,

Robin You must shoot the balloon With your gun Have you got your gun?

Of course I have,

You said But if I do that,

It will spoil the balloon,

You said But if you don't,

Said Pooh I shall have to let go And that would spoil me Well,

Winnie,

Put it like this You saw how it was And you aimed very carefully at the balloon And fired Ow,

Said Pooh Did I miss you?

Asked Well,

You didn't exactly miss,

Said Pooh But you missed the balloon I'm so sorry,

You said And you fired again And this time you hit the balloon And the air came slowly out And Winnie the Pooh floated down to the ground But His arms were so stiff From holding on to the string of the balloon All that time That they stayed up straight in the air For more than a week And whenever a fly came And set it on his nose He had to blow it off And I think,

But I'm not sure That this is why He was always called Pooh Is that the end of the story?

Asked George OZ and Christopher Robin Well,

That's the end of that one There are others About Pooh and me You ask And Piglet and Rabbit and all of you Don't you remember?

Oh,

I do remember And then when I try to remember,

I forget That day when Pooh and Piglet Tried to catch the hippo-lump They didn't catch it,

Did they?

No,

Pooh couldn't because he hasn't any brain Did I catch it?

Well,

That comes into the story George OZ and Christopher Robin Both nodded I do remember,

He said,

That only Pooh Doesn't really well,

So that's why He likes having it told to him again Because then it's a real story And not just a remembering Well,

It's just how I feel,

I see George OZ and Christopher Robin Both gave a deep sigh Picked up the bear by the leg And walked off to the door Trailing Pooh behind them At the door they turned and said Come in to see me have my bath I might,

I said I didn't hurt him when I shot him,

Did I?

Not a bit He nodded and went out And in the moment I heard one of the Pooh Thump,

Thump,

Thump Going up the stairs behind him And that is the end of that story Good night On the back of his head Behind Christopher Robin And George OZ It is,

As far as they know The only way of coming Downstairs,

Yes But sometimes He feels That there really is Another way If only he could stop thumping for a moment And think of it And then he feels that perhaps there isn't Anyhow,

Here he is At the bottom and ready to be introduced to you Winnie the Pooh When I first heard his name I said,

Just as you were going to say That I thought he was a boy So did I Said Christopher Robin So did I,

Said George OZ And you can't call him Winnie I don't But you said He's Winnie the Pooh Don't you know Don't you know what the means Ah yes,

Now I do I said quickly And I hope you do too Because it is all the explanation you are going to get Sometimes Winnie the Pooh likes a game of some sort When he comes downstairs And sometimes He likes to sit quietly in front of the fire And listen to a story This evening What about a story,

Said Christopher Robin Yes,

What about a story,

Said George OZ What about a story,

I said Could you very sweetly tell Winnie the Pooh one I suppose I could,

I said What sort of stories does he like About himself Because he's that sort of bear Oh,

I see So could you very sweetly I'll try,

I said So I tried Once upon a time There was a little boy He was a little boy Once upon a time A very long time ago Now About last Friday Winnie the Pooh lived in a forest All by himself Under the name of Sanders What does Sanders What does under the name mean Asked Christopher Robin It means he had the same name over the door On gold letters and lived under it Winnie the Pooh wasn't quite sure Said Christopher Robin Now I am,

Said a growly voice But I'll go on,

Said I One day when he was out walking He came to an open place In the middle of the forest And in the middle of this place Was a large oak tree And from the top of the tree Became a loud buzzing noise Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz The only reason for making a buzzing noise that I know of is because you are a bee Then he thought another long time and said And the only reason for being a bee that I know of is making honey And then he got up and said And the only reason for making honey is so as I can eat it So he began to climb the tree He climbed and he climbed And he climbed And as he climbed he sang a little song to himself it went like this Isn't it funny how a bear likes honey?

Buzz buzz buzz I wonder why he does And he climbed a little further and a little further And then just a little further By that time he'd thought of another song.

It's a very funny thought that if bears were bees They would build their nests at the bottom of trees and that being so if bees were bears We shouldn't have to climb up all these stairs He was getting rather tired by this time so this is why he sang a complaining song He was nearly there now and if he just stood on that branch Crack Oh help!

He threw as he dropped ten feet on the branch below him If only I hadn't he said as he bounced twenty feet onto the next branch You see what I meant to do he explained as he turned head over heels and crashed onto another branch thirty feet below What I meant to do Of course it was rather He admitted and as he slithered very quickly through the next six branches It all comes I suppose He decided as he said goodbye to the last branch spun round three times and flew gracefully into a gorse bush It all comes of liking honey so much.

Oh Help He crawled out of the gorse bush brushed the prickles from his nose and began to think again The first person he thought of was Christopher Robin and George O'John Was amazed at Christopher Robin in an awed voice hardly daring to believe it That was you Christopher Robin and George O'John said nothing but their eyes got larger and larger and their face got pinker and pinker So Winnie the Pooh went round to his friends Christopher Robin and George O'John He lived behind a green door in another part of the forest Good morning Christopher Robin good morning George O'John Good morning Winnie the Pooh said you So you fall in time Oh Okay Let's return to Christopher Robin then and George O'John good morning Christopher Robin and George O'John Are we changing the name now to George O'Zee and still George O'John Okay,

Good morning Christopher Robin.

He said good morning Christopher George O'Zeed.

Is it right?

Good morning Christopher Robin he said good morning George O'Zeed he said Good morning,

Winnie the Pooh said you I wonder if you've got such a thing as a balloon about you Balloon yes,

I just see to myself coming along I wonder if Christopher Robin or George O'Zeed have such a thing about them as a balloon Well,

I just said it to myself thinking of balloons and wondering What do you want a balloon for you see?

Well Winnie the Pooh looked around to see that nobody was listening which is poured to his mouth and Said in a deep whisper honey But you don't get honey with balloons I do see food well,

It just Happened that you had been to a party the day before the house of your friend picnic and you had had balloons at the party You'd had a big green balloon and one of rabbits relations had had a big blue one And you left it behind being really too young to go to a party at all And so you had brought the green one and the blue one home with you Which one would you like you asked me?

He put his head between his paws and thought very carefully It's like this he said when you go after honey with a balloon The great thing is not to let the bees know you're coming Now if you have a green balloon I might think you were only part of the tree and not notice you and if you have a blue balloon They might think you were only part of the sky and not notice you The question is which is most likely Would they notice you underneath the balloon?

They might not see one of the bees You can tell with bees He thought for a moment and said I should try to look like a small black cloud that would deceive me Then you'd better have the blue balloon he said and so it was decided Well,

You both went out with the blue balloon and you took your gummy for you Just in case as you always did and when it appeared to a very muddy place Well,

It's a toy gun that has a little cork at the end of it which is to pretend bullet for it No Where did I know No,

The thing is we've just been saying you see it we haven't been saying any names lately George I'm Georgia Okay,

No,

We're just talking about you so if I go back to it it says I Did say yes,

I just said to myself coming along I wonder just listen again Oh,

I'll repeat it so you can hear listen to every yes.

I just said to myself coming along I wonder if Christopher Robin or George OZ have such a thing as a balloon about them I just said to myself thinking of balloons and wondering What do you want to bloom for you said?

Really the clue looked around to see what the puppet was listening.

It was poor to his mouth and said in a very deep whisper But you don't get honey with balloons I do see cool But it just happens that you have been to a party the day before you as in Georgia Zed and also Christopher Robin So the two of you have just happened that you've both been to a party the day before But the house of your friend piglet and you had balloons at the party We had a big green balloon and one of the rabbits relations had had a big blue one and had left it behind being really Too young to go to party at all and so you had brought the green one and the blue one home with you Which one would you like you asked him?

He put his head between his paws and thought very carefully What's like this he said when you go out to honey with a balloon the great thing is not to make the bees know that You're coming Now if you have a green balloon They might think you were only part of the tree and not notice you and if you have a blue balloon They might think you were only part of the sky and not notice you and the question is which is most likely Wouldn't they notice you underneath the balloon you asked?

Well,

They might or they might not see the one in the poop and you never can tell with bees He thought for a moment and said I should try to look like a small black cloud that's what to see Then you'd better have the blue balloon you said and so it was decided well you both went out for the with a blue balloon and you took your gun with you just in case as you always did and Winnie the Pooh went to a very muddy place that you kneel and Rolled and rolled until he was black all over and then When the balloon was blown up as big as big and you and P were both holding onto the string you let go suddenly Pooh Bear floated gracefully up into the sky and stayed there Level at the top of the tree and about 20 feet away from it.

Hooray you shouted Isn't that fine shouted Winnie the Pooh down to you?

What do I look like you look like a bear holding on to a balloon you see?

Not super anxiously not like a small black cloud in the blue sky Not very much Well,

Perhaps from up here.

It looks different and as I say you never can tell with bees There was no wind to blow him nearer to the tree So there he stayed he could see the honey He could smell the honey But he couldn't quite reach the honey After a while he called down to you George OZ Christopher Robin he said in the loud whisper hello I think the bees suspect something What sort of thing?

Well,

I don't know but something tells me that they're suspicious Perhaps they think that you're after their honey.

Maybe that you never can tell with bees There was another silence and then he called down to you again George OZ Christopher Robin,

Yes,

You see have you an umbrella in your house?

I think so I wish you'd bring it out here and walk up and down with it and look up at me We now men and say tut tut.

It looks like rain I think if you did that it would help the deception which we are practicing on these bees Wow,

You laugh to yourself Silly old bear But you didn't say it aloud because you were so fond of him and you went home for your umbrella.

Oh there you are called down Winnie the Pooh as soon as he got back to the tree I was beginning to get anxious.

I have discovered that the bees are now definitely suspicious Shall I put my umbrella up you you asked?

Yes,

But wait a moment.

We must be practical the important bee to deceive is the Queen Bee Can you see which is a Queen Bee from down there?

No,

You see it.

What a pity Well now if you walk up and down with your umbrella saying Tut tut.

It looks like rain.

I should do what I can by singing a little cloud song Such as a cloud might sing Go So while you walked up and down and wondered if it would rain Winnie the Pooh sang the song How sweet to be a cloud Floating in the blue Every little cloud always sings a lull How sweet to be a cloud floating in the blue it makes him very proud to be a little cloud Bees were still buzzing as suspiciously as ever Some of them indeed left their nests and flew all around the cloud As it began the second verse of this song and one bee sat down on the nose of the cloud for a moment and then got up again Georgeford I said Christopher Robin called out the cloud.

Yes I Have just been thinking and I have come to a very important decision These are the wrong sort of bees Are they?

Quite the wrong sort so I should think they'll make the wrong sort of honey shouldn't you?

Would they you say?

Yes,

So I think I should come down How you ask?

Well Winnie the Pooh hadn't thought about this if he let go of the string he would fall bump And he didn't like the idea of it so he thought for a long time and then he said George Izzy and Christopher Robin you must shoot the balloon with your gun.

Have you got your gun?

Of course I have you see But if I do that it will spoil the balloon you see But if you don't see Pooh I shall have to let go and that would spoil me Well,

When you put it like this you saw how it was and you aimed very carefully at the balloon inside Ow Did I miss you out?

Well you didn't exactly miss it Pooh but you missed the balloon I'm so sorry you said and you fired again And this time you hit the balloon and the air came slowly out and Winnie the Pooh floated down to the ground But His arms were so stiff from holding on to the string of the balloon all that time That they stayed up straight in the air for more than a week And whenever a fly came and settled on his nose he had to blow it off and I think but I'm not sure That this is why he was always called Pooh Is that the end of the story asked George Ozz and Christopher Robin Well,

That's the end of that one.

There are others About Pooh and me you ask and Piglet and Rabbit and all of you.

Don't you remember?

Oh,

I do remember and then when I try to remember I forget That day when Pooh and Piglet tried to catch the hippo man They didn't catch it did they?

No Pooh couldn't because he hasn't any brain Did I catch it?

Well that comes into the story George Ozz and Christopher Robin both nodded.

I do remember he said only Pooh doesn't remember So that's why he likes having it told to him again Because then it's a real story and not just a remembering.

Well,

It's just how I feel I see George Ozz and Christopher Robin both gave a deep sigh Picked up their bear by the leg and walked off to the door trailing Pooh behind them At the door they turned and said coming to see me have my bath I might I said I didn't hurt him when I shot him did I?

Not a bit He nodded and went out and in a moment.

I heard Winnie the Pooh Going up the stairs behind him And that is the end of that story Good night You