Tigger Warnings

So there I was, reading The House at Pooh Corner, when suddenly, without warning, I was bounced.

I had loved Winnie-the-Pooh. I had really identified with all of the characters; I was Pooh (of course) but also Piglet. There is Eeyore in me, and also Rabbit; Owl and Kanga, and of course Roo.

But reading the sequel, after a deceptive first chapter, in which all was as it should be, suddenly, in Chapter 2, I was bounced. There was Tigger: a new and threatening character, introduced with no warning.

I had always loved the 100 Acre Wood as a Safe Space. So you will appreciate my sense of violation. Moreover, a friend of mine was once nearly run over by a Jagular sports car, so the gratuitous introduction of the Jagular sub-plot - again without any warning - was deeply disturbing.

And lest anyone thinks I am over-sensitive, I would point out that Rabbit, Eeyore and Piglet all find Tigger threatening in their various ways. In particular the violent scene in which Tigger bounces Eeyore into the river is profoundly upsetting. 

Of course, I am not calling for the complete censorship of Tigger; there may be those who are in some perverse way gratified by his bouncing. But I do think we should be able to declare the 100 Acre Wood a Safe Space, and moreover, that his appearance in any book should always be preceded by a Tigger Warning.