This treasury collects and adapts a mixed bag of mediocre short stories and rhymes that originally appeared in several other Pooh Christmas books and collections, mostly Winnie the Pooh's Stories For Christmas, Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Christmas Stories, and Winnie the Pooh's Holiday Hummables. I try to sort it all out below.

Introduction / written by Bruce Talkington; illustrated by John Kurtz (from Winnie the Pooh's Stories For Christmas)
~2 stars~
This prologue is like the start of a sitcom clip show: It has Christopher Robin and Pooh talking about Christmas as they walk along through the snow on Christmas Eve, and so Pooh starts to dwell on his favorite Christmas memories . . .

The Bite Before Christmas / written by Bruce Talkington; illustrated by John Kurtz (from Winnie the Pooh's Stories For Christmas)
~2 stars~
Santa needs a helper to consume all those snacks kids leave out for him on Christmas Eve, and since Cookie Monster was unavailable, he recruits Pooh. I'd love this if it weren't for the stupid "it was all a dream . . . or was it?" ending.

Pooh's Christmas Hum / written by Amy Edgar; illustrated by Costa Alavezos (from Winnie the Pooh's Holiday Hummables)
~2 stars~
A nothing little rhyme where everyone but Pooh has fallen asleep in front of a fireplace.

Santa Pooh / written by Nancy Parent; penciled by Lee Loetz; painted by Brent Ford (from Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Christmas Stories)
~2 stars~
Another nothing little rhyme where Pooh delivers presents to his friends.

The Night Before Christmas / based on the poem by Clement C. Moore; illustrated by Sol Studios (from Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Christmas Stories and Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Night Before Christmas)
~3 stars~
An abbreviated version of Clement C. Moore's classic poem. I thought they'd adapt it to Pooh more, but Piglet's name is slipped in once, and the rest is fairly faithful to the original with a few lines dropped out here and there.

A Tigger at Christmastime / written by Amy Edgar; illustrated by Costa Alavezos (from Winnie the Pooh's Holiday Hummables)
~3 stars~
A cute, short variation on the Sherman Brothers'"The Wonderful Thing about Tiggers" that has Tigger singing, "Cutting, taping, folding, tying -- Ho-ho-ho-ho-ho!" as he wraps presents.

A Very Small Christmas / written by Bruce Talkington; illustrated by John Kurtz (from Winnie the Pooh's Stories For Christmas)
~2 stars~
A dreadfully overwritten story about Piglet's fear of the dark. He's dangerously filled his house with dozens of candles on his Christmas tree and wrapped in boughs on his mantle, but when he opens a window to see who is scratching at his front door, a breeze blows them all out, and he must form an unlikely partnership with his visitor to get through the dark winter nights.

Christmas Cookies / written by Amy Edgar; illustrated by Costa Alavezos (from Winnie the Pooh's Holiday Hummables)
~3 stars~
Rabbit says a little rhyme while he bakes.

Eeyore's Christmas Surprise / adapted from "Unstable Christmas" in Winnie the Pooh's Stories For Christmas by Bruce Talkington; illustrated by John Kurtz (from Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Christmas Stories)
~2 stars~
Eeyore's Christmas decorations cause his house to collapse, and his friends spend Christmas Eve helping him rebuild. A cheesy ending fails to give the story much of a point.

A Christmas Tree for Pooh / written by Amy Edgar; illustrated by Costa Alavezos (from Winnie the Pooh's Holiday Hummables)
~2 stars~
Pooh gets and trims his Christmas tree.

Pooh's Jingle Bells / written by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld; illustrated by Robbin Cuddy (from the "My Very First Winnie the Pooh" series)
~2 stars~
Third time this week I've read this story or an adaptation of it. And it wasn't that good the first time:
Christopher Robin makes Pooh feel guilty about wanting presents for Christmas, so Pooh decides they should get in the Christmas spirit by helping Santa Claus deliver presents. They circle around the Hundred-Acre Wood gathering friends and supplies for the effort, but accomplish little except pressuring a dubious Eeyore into pulling everyone around in a sleigh while they sing, "Jingle Bells." Ho-ho-ho-my-god!

The Twelve Days of Christmas / illustrated by Sol Studios (from Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Christmas Stories and Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Twelve Days of Christmas)
~3 stars~
A cute variation on the traditional song has the Pooh characters pretty well inserted: "Two Kanga-roos and a Piglet in a pear tree."

Snow Time like Christmas / written by Bruce Talkington; illustrated by John Kurtz (from Winnie the Pooh's Stories For Christmas)
~2 stars~
Roo thinks he has found some magical walking and talking snowmen on Christmas Eve. As is the custom on Christmas, his mother and friends lie to the child about the magical beings' true nature.

Sledding with Christopher Robin / written by Amy Edgar; illustrated by Costa Alavezos (from Winnie the Pooh's Holiday Hummables)
~2 stars~
A little rhyme about Christopher Robin and Pooh sledding that makes me realize I'd rather be reading a Calvin and Hobbes sledding strip.

The Best Part of Christmas / written by Amy Edgar; illustrated by Costa Alavezos (from Winnie the Pooh's Holiday Hummables)
~2 stars~
The best part of Christmas . . . is Folger's in your cup. Oh, wait, I don't drink coffee, I just spent too much time watching commercials when I was a kid. Anyhow, this is a sappy little rhyme about friendship that involves hugging. Eww.

Pooh's Wishing Star / written by Bruce Talkington; illustrated by John Kurtz. Adapted from The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh Season 1, Episode 16: "The Wishing Bear," first aired Dec. 10, 1988; directed by Karl Geurs; story by Mark Zaslove and Dev Ross; written by Mark Zaslove and Bruce Talkington.
~3 stars~
Christopher Robin fibs to Pooh about the powers of a wishing star in the sky one winter night. Then Pooh tries to get the star to give wishes to his friends and, after the star appears to fall from the sky, ends up fibbing to them to make it seem the star worked. When the friends see through Pooh's charade, they help him fib to Christopher Robin that the star is still in the sky. It's appropriate, I suppose, that a story with so much fibbing makes its way into a Christmas collection.
I rewatched the TV episode today in preparation for reading this story, and I can verify it is a faithful adaptation that is just as cute and amusing as the original.

Jingle Bells / illustrated by Sol Studios (from Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Christmas Stories and Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Jingle Bells)
~3 stars~
Another Christmas carol, but the pictures for this one tell a nice story about Eeyore getting some relief from that Jingle Bells story earlier in the book. Justice for Eeyore!

Christmas Eve Lullaby / written by Amy Edgar; illustrated by Costa Alavezos (from Winnie the Pooh's Holiday Hummables)
~2 stars~
Kanga croons Eeyore to sleep with a boring little song that would put me to sleep also.

Merry Christmas, Winnie the Pooh! / adapted from Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Christmas by Bruce Talkington; illustrated by Alvin S. White Studio; pencils by Sparky Moore; backgrounds by Gene Ware (from Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Christmas Stories)
~2 stars~
Pooh forgets to get Christmas presents for his friends, but Christopher Robin hands him a pile of old socks, and everything sort of works out. Feh.

FOR REFERENCE:

Contents:
• Introduction / written by Bruce Talkington; illustrated by John Kurtz (from Winnie the Pooh's Stories For Christmas)
• The Bite Before Christmas / written by Bruce Talkington; illustrated by John Kurtz (from Winnie the Pooh's Stories For Christmas)
• Pooh's Christmas Hum / written by Amy Edgar; illustrated by Costa Alavezos (from Winnie the Pooh's Holiday Hummables)
• Santa Pooh / written by Nancy Parent; penciled by Lee Loetz; painted by Brent Ford (from Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Christmas Stories)
• The Night Before Christmas / based on the poem by Clement C. Moore; illustrated by Sol Studios (from Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Christmas Stories and Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Night Before Christmas)
• A Tigger at Christmastime / written by Amy Edgar; illustrated by Costa Alavezos (from Winnie the Pooh's Holiday Hummables)
• A Very Small Christmas / written by Bruce Talkington; illustrated by John Kurtz (from Winnie the Pooh's Stories For Christmas)
• Christmas Cookies / written by Amy Edgar; illustrated by Costa Alavezos (from Winnie the Pooh's Holiday Hummables)
• Eeyore's Christmas Surprise / adapted from "Unstable Christmas" in Winnie the Pooh's Stories For Christmas by Bruce Talkington; illustrated by John Kurtz (from Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Christmas Stories)
• A Christmas Tree for Pooh / written by Amy Edgar; illustrated by Costa Alavezos (from Winnie the Pooh's Holiday Hummables)
• Pooh's Jingle Bells / written by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld; illustrated by Robbin Cuddy (from the "My Very First Winnie the Pooh" series)
• The Twelve Days of Christmas / illustrated by Sol Studios (from Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Christmas Stories and Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Twelve Days of Christmas)
• Snow Time like Christmas / written by Bruce Talkington; illustrated by John Kurtz (from Winnie the Pooh's Stories For Christmas)
• Sledding with Christopher Robin / written by Amy Edgar; illustrated by Costa Alavezos (from Winnie the Pooh's Holiday Hummables)
• The Best Part of Christmas / written by Amy Edgar; illustrated by Costa Alavezos (from Winnie the Pooh's Holiday Hummables)
• Pooh's Wishing Star / written by Bruce Talkington; illustrated by John Kurtz. Adapted from The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh Season 1, Episode 16: "The Wishing Bear," first aired Dec. 10, 1988; directed by Karl Geurs; story by Mark Zaslove and Dev Ross; written by Mark Zaslove and Bruce Talkington.
• Jingle Bells / illustrated by Sol Studios (from Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Christmas Stories and Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Jingle Bells)
• Christmas Eve Lullaby / written by Amy Edgar; illustrated by Costa Alavezos (from Winnie the Pooh's Holiday Hummables)
• Merry Christmas, Winnie the Pooh! / adapted from Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Christmas by Bruce Talkington; illustrated by Alvin S. White Studio; pencils by Sparky Moore; backgrounds by Gene Ware (from Disney's Winnie the Pooh's Christmas Stories)

(My Pooh Project: I love Winnie the Pooh, and so does my wife. Having a daughter gave us a chance to indoctrinate her into the cult by buying and reading her every Pooh book we came across. How many is that? I’m going to count them this year by reading and reviewing one every day and seeing which month I finally run out. Track my progress here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/23954351-rod-brown?ref=nav_mybooks&she... ) ( )