Winnie the Pooh: Lost and Found (Disney Winnie the Pooh) Read online

  Based on the “Winnie the Pooh” works by A.A. Milne and E.H. Shepard

  Copyright © 2011 by Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved. Published by Disney Press,

  an imprint of Disney Book Group. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in

  any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by

  any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.

  For information, address Disney Press, 114 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10011-5690.

  ISBN 978-1-4231-5916-2

  For more Disney Press fun, visit www.disneybooks.com

  THE STORY SO FAR…

  Pooh had been dreaming of honey all night long, but when he woke up in the morning,

  every last honeypot in his house was empty. Pooh headed out into the Wood in search of

  honey. There he came upon Eeyore, who had lost his tail. Pooh and his friends decided to

  hold a contest to find Eeyore a new one. At Pooh’s suggestion, the prize was to be a pot of

  honey. The friends came up with all manner of replacement tails, but none was quite right—

  hence, no honey for Pooh.

  Pooh continued on his honey search, which took him to Christopher Robin’s house.

  There he found a note on the door. Owl read it and informed everyone that a frightening

  creature called a Backson had captured Christopher Robin! Fortunately, Rabbit came up

  with a plan to save his friend: They would dig a pit, and then leave a trail of items to lead the

  Backson to it.

  Meanwhile, Tigger prowled the Wood with a reluctant Eeyore, determined to find the Backson.

  Tigger decided to teach Eeyore how to be a tigger so that they could capture the Backson

  together! When Eeyore had had enough of Tigger’s training, the donkey went into hiding.

  Rabbit was very pleased. His plan to catch the Backson and

  rescue Christopher Robin was almost complete! He and his

  friends had left a trail of items leading to the trap they had

  set for the Backson. Now all they had to do was wait for it

  to show up.

  “Rabbit, can we stop for lunch?” Pooh asked.

  “We cannot rest until Christopher Robin is found,” insisted

  Rabbit. “Try thinking of him instead of honey.”

  “Very well,” Pooh agreed. He did his best to concentrate.

  Then something very strange happened. Pooh’s shadow

  started looking like a honeypot!

  Then, every time Pooh’s friends spoke, all he could hear

  was, “Honey, honey, honey.” Next, everything beneath Pooh’s

  feet melted into a giant wave of honey! He swam and dived and

  floated in the honey. He gobbled and gulped and guzzled the

  honey. Pooh was so blissfully happy that he sang a honey song

  and danced a honey dance. Life was sweet!

  POOF! Pooh’s beautiful daydream faded. His honey

  ocean was really a muddy puddle—and Pooh was a great

  big mess! To make matters worse, it seemed his poor

  tummy would never get something to eat.

  Pooh cleaned himself off and went on his way. After a few

  steps, he came upon a large honeypot centered on a cloth. Pooh

  was so excited at the prospect of honey that he didn’t recognize

  the very Backson trap he and Piglet had set earlier that day!

  Pooh fell to the bottom of the pit, and before

  he could say “oh, bother,” the honeypot fell on

  top of his head. Unfortunately for Pooh and his

  tummy, the pot was empty.

  Meanwhile, Pooh’s friends had arrived back

  at the pit and were looking everywhere for him.

  Then, all at once, they heard a loud THUD!

  The friends clung to each other in fear.

  “The plan worked!” Rabbit exclaimed. “We

  caught the Backson!”

  After each friend suggested that the other take a

  look first, it was agreed that they would all go over to

  the pit and look together.

  “You went back for the honey, didn’t you?” asked Piglet.

  “I told you it was empty.”

  “Yes, and I believed you, Piglet,” replied Pooh. “But my

  tummy had to see for himself.”

  “How are we ever going to get him out?” wondered Kanga.

  Just then, Eeyore arrived at the pit and showed off his

  newest tail to the group.

  Rabbit thought Eeyore’s tail might be the answer to

  Pooh’s predicament, so he threw the anchor into the pit.

  It was so heavy, it yanked the friends down into the

  hole—and broke the honeypot on Pooh’s head.

  Only Piglet, who had been tossed high into the air,

  remained outside the trap.

  “Oh, dear! Wait for me!” Piglet cried as he started to climb

  into the pit. He didn’t want to be left alone with the Backson

  running around loose!

  “No, Piglet!” Rabbit cried. “You can help us if you stay

  up there. Go look for something to get us out!”

  Moments later, Piglet returned with a flower, but it was

  much too short to reach all the way down into the pit.

  Next, Piglet brought a large book.

  “You can’t possibly think that’s long enough,”

  said Rabbit.

  Piglet disagreed.

  “Owl read this to

  me once, and it was

  certainly the longest

  thing I’d ever heard.”

  On Piglet’s third trip, he brought back a very

  useful rope. But, since there were six friends

  stuck in the pit, Piglet cut the rope into six

  equal pieces.

  “Now you can all get out!” he said proudly.

  But the pieces of rope were much too

  short to reach into the pit.

  Just then, Roo remembered that Christopher Robin

  owned a jump rope.

  Rabbit urged Piglet to go to the boy’s house and get it.

  Owl flew out of the pit to encourage the terrified Piglet.

  When he was done, he flew back in. It was now clear that

  Owl did not need rescuing from the pit—but no one seemed

  to notice.

  Piglet, meanwhile, trudged nervously into the

  foggy woods, knowing he had a very important

  thing to do. As he looked all around, the very

  small animal backed into a very large tree root.

  Startled, he turned and saw what looked like a

  red-eyed monster glaring down from up in the

  tree. But it was only his friend B’loon.

  Loyal little Piglet realized that no matter how

  frightened he was, he had to go back and save

  his friend.

  Piglet slowly inched his way over to B’loon.

  A few tugs later, as Piglet pulled B’loon from

  the tree, an enormous shadow fell over them.

  Piglet turned and faced the monster. “B-B-B-BACKSON!”

  he shouted. He held on tight to B’loon and raced away as

  fast as he could.

  But there was no Backson—only Tigger dressed in a

  Backson disguise.

  But now Tigger thought th
e Backson was right behind

  him! He ran after his friend so that they could flee together.

  “Piglet!” he cried.

  “He knows my name!” shrieked Piglet. “HELP!”

  B’loon lifted Piglet up and away, but it was a very bumpy

  ride. Then Piglet spotted the pit in the distance. He thought

  if he could just reach it—and his friends—he would be safe.

  He had nearly made it when Tigger crashed into him.

  When the dust settled, everyone was relieved to see

  that the “Backson” chasing Piglet was really only Tigger.

  And Tigger was relieved to see all of his friends.

  Suddenly, Tigger realized

  he was sitting on Piglet!

  “Sorry ’bout that, little

  guy,” Tigger said.

  Just then, B’loon

  up and out of Piglet’s grasp.

  “Don’t leave!” called Rabbit.

  “You’re the only one who can

  get us out of here!” Piglet explained.

  Owl was not the least bit upset

  by the setback. He began to tell a

  very long story, unaware that his

  friends were growing bored. Pooh

  idly looked up and saw Tigger’s

  discarded honeypot sitting at

  the edge of the pit. So he

  decided to build himself

  a ladder out of letters.

  Back above ground, Pooh examined the

  honeypot. “Empty,” he said as he tossed it

  over his shoulder.

  Down

  in

  the

  pit,

  Owl was still talking! “ . . . that the inkwell

  would launch into the air,” he said. “And

  let me tell you, it packed quite a wallop!”

  The honeypot

  smacked the top

  of Owl’s head!

  Suddenly, Rabbit saw Pooh’s ladder of letters. “We can get

  out!” he cried.

  The friends were relieved to be out of the pit—until they

  heard a rustling in the bushes.

  “Backson!” they cried.

  But it was only Christopher Robin, led by B’loon.

  “How did you escape the Backson?” asked Rabbit.

  “What on earth is a Backson?” Christopher

  Robin asked.

  “The most wretched creature that you

  could meet,” Owl said solemnly.

  “What gave you the idea I was taken by a

  Backson?” replied Christopher Robin.

  Pooh handed him the note. Christopher

  Robin giggled as he explained that he had

  written that he would be “back soon”—not

  “Backson.” It had all been

  a misunderstanding!

  Before the friends headed home, Rabbit

  declared, “We owe a very special someone a

  token of our appreciation. . . .

  “Someone who got us out of this pit and helped

  us to find Christopher Robin. So, I bestow this pot

  of honey upon our dear friend . . . B’loon.”

  Pooh and his tummy were dumbstruck.

  “Sorry, Pooh,” said Eeyore.

  “Ever have one of those days where you just can’t win?”

  Pooh asked.

  Pooh’s hungry tummy soon led him away, looking this

  way and that for the honey it so desperately wanted.

  Pooh kept on searching until he ended up at Owl’s house.

  It took all of Pooh’s remaining energy to climb up the tree to

  Owl’s front door, where he pulled the new bell rope. There was

  something very familiar about it.

  As Owl invited Pooh in for some honey, he said, “I shall

  treat you to an excerpt from my memoirs, which tells the

  gripping tale of how only a few days ago I found that very

  handsome bell rope that you were admiring just hanging over a

  thistle bush. Nobody seemed to want it, so I brought it home.”

  “But somebody did want it,

  Owl,” Pooh said. “My dear friend

  Eeyore. He was fond of it, you see.

  Attached to it.”

  “Of course. It is Eeyore’s tail,”

  said Owl realizing his mistake.

  “I was just keeping it safe for him.”

  As much as Pooh hated

  to leave the honey, he had

  to return Eeyore’s tail to

  him right away.

  Pooh took the tail straight to Christopher Robin, who

  securely attached it to Eeyore with a hammer and nail.

  “What do you think?” Christopher Robin asked.

  Eeyore considered his old tail, with which he was newly

  reunited. “Seems about the right length. Pink bow’s a nice

  touch. Swishes real good, too,” he said.

  That was good enough for Christopher Robin. “Bring out

  the grand prize!” he instructed.

  “Thank you all ever so much,” said Pooh. He climbed

  straight into the pot. He swam and dived and floated in the

  honey. He gobbled and gulped and guzzled the honey. All his

  honey dreams had finally come true!

  Later, Christopher Robin told Pooh how

  proud he was that Pooh had put his friend

  before his tummy.

  “Thank you,” Pooh replied. “I don’t

  think I shall be hungry again for a good

  long while.”

  Just then, Pooh’s stomach rumbled.

  “Silly old bear!” said Christopher Robin.

 

 

  Lisa Ann Marsoli, Winnie the Pooh: Lost and Found (Disney Winnie the Pooh)

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