The Story of the Name

Why The Hundred Acre Bookshelf?

Thanks for joining me at The Hundred Acre Bookshelf! Yesterday I shared our first book list, and tomorrow I’ll share our first trivia question, after which things will settle down into our normal schedule of one post per week. But today, I want to share the story of the name.

I’m sure you recognize “The Hundred Acre Bookshelf” as a reference to Winnie-the-Pooh, A.A. Milne’s classic stories written for his son, Christopher, and Christopher’s beloved stuffed animals.

Ten or so years ago, when I lived in New York City, I stopped by the New York Public Library to visit Christopher Robin Milne’s original animals. I remember seeing them (and noting how different they look from the Disney adaptations), and thinking with awe on the disciplined imagination of A.A. Milne. This man took careful note of his son’s make-believe play and wrote a series of original stories for his son and his son’s toys. Wow.

Photo by Bernd Dittrich on Unsplash.

There is something beautiful about a story written for a specific child. Not a story vaguely written for “the children,” whoever they are, wherever they are, just guessing at what children want to hear. But a story written for a specific audience, with all the details and tiny observations that make the world-building of the story alive and vibrant.

Many of the best children’s books were written in this way – The Hobbit, The Wind in the Willows. In fact, C.S. Lewis wrote an article called “On Three Ways of Writing for Children” in which he praises this manner of writing in particular.

Now, plenty of good books are not written for an individual audience, and that’s okay. To quote the same C.S. Lewis essay again, sometimes “a children’s story is the best art form for something you have to say,” which is why he wrote the Chronicles of Narnia as a children’s story. I will recommend many of this type of book in upcoming posts .

But there is a point I want to draw from A.A. Milne-style personalized writing. The warmth, the individuality, the intense knowing-and-being-known that is involved in this kind of story-telling gets at something that matters to me as a parent: knowing my kids well, savoring my time with them, and picking books that are not just famous and important for social reference points but that are good for my kids.

I haven’t equaled A.A. Milne in my efforts to write for my kids. (Not even close.) But in a smaller way, I can fill their minds with stories. I can select books for them.

So, these book lists that I share are little glimpses at the books that stock my bookshelves, in the hopes that they may help you stock yours, too.

The name “The Hundred Acre Bookshelf” is also meant to convey two other points. One, that the world of good books is big—hundred acres big. There are thousands of good books out there, and we are blessed to live in a time and place with easy access to them.

And two, that though the world of books is large, the bookshelf is limited. We can only own and store and care for so many books. We have time to read only so many. So, what’s on the bookshelf next to Winnie-the-Pooh? What else is excellent, beautiful, important, and simply good? Let’s explore those together.

So, read widely, but selectively. Drink deeply of great literature and savor. Along the way, there will be plenty of “expotitions” and adventures. That’s the beauty of a great book.