A new pal for Pooh

Children and their parents, and especially grandparents, have enjoyed the Winnie the Pooh stories for many years, but perhaps the major impact of the books has been as a revenue stream for Milne's estate, the Disney Company and manufacturers of Pooh products. Pictures of the familiar characters are available on clothes, bedding, calendars, tableware and other products. Now a new book is being published to take advantage of the interest. It is the first authorized sequel to the Pooh books and offers new stories and new illustrations as well as a new friend for Pooh--an otter. The New York Times article announcing this gives a sample of the illustrations, which seem pleasantly close to the originals. We will be lucky if the author, David Benedictus, captures the original spirit in his writing too. If he does, the children's publishing world may have another blockbuster, that is, if today's children can accept anything other than the Disney version.