Production code: 111
Original airdate: March 12, 2001
You Can Lead Eeyore to Books: Owl opens up his house as a library, and everyone finds a book they enjoy - except for Eeyore. The other animals try to find a book that Eeyore will like.
The Spice of Life: When the bees of the Hundred Acre Wood go on strike, Pooh is left without any Hunny. Piglet, Rabbit and Tigger work together to try and find something for Pooh to eat.
This episode as a whole contains examples of:
- Central Theme: The two episodes are linked by a theme of differing tastes and trying new things. "You Can Lead Eeyore to Books" has the gang trying to find a book Eeyore will like, while "The Spice of Life" has Piglet, Tigger and Rabbit trying to encourage Pooh to try food other than honey.
You Can Lead Eeyore to Books contains examples of:
- An Aesop: Everyone has different tastes and you can't assume that what you like will suit others.
- Amusing Injuries: Eeyore collectd these offscreen as each of his friends hands him a book to read, only for him to return it after some mishap:
- Pooh's book on honey and beekeeping leads to him getting stung all over and covered in plasters.
- Tigger's book, "Bouncing Your Way to Better Health", leads to him falling down a steep and rocky hill, getting him covered in bandages.
- Piglet's book, "The Three Little Pigs", causes Eeyore to become Improperly Paranoid about the Big Bad Wolf, so he tries to build a brick wall around his house. It ends with him in a neck brace and both his front hooves in casts.
- Cash Lure: Pooh and his friends use a carrot on a string to lure Eeyore to Owl's library so that he can pick out a book of his own after he doesn't like the ones they suggest to him.
- "Reading Is Cool" Aesop: The gang goes searching for a book Eeyore will like. In the end, he does find one - a book of sad poems.
- Rule of Three: Pooh, Tigger and Piglet each try to find a book for Eeyore, but their suggestions end in failure.
The Spice of Life contains examples of:
- An Aesop: Don't be afraid to try new things.
- Growling Gut: Pooh's "rumbly tumbly" gets louder and louder over the course of the episode - to the point of causing earthquake-like vibrations. Piglet, Rabbit and Tigger even start to worry that the Hundred Acre Wood might get shaken to pieces from the sheer force!
- I Can't Believe I'm Saying This: Said almost verbatim by Tigger, concerning Pooh's reluctance to try any of the foods they give him."I can't believe I'm about to say this, but we gotta figure us out a way to make Pooh eat!"
- Never Learned to Read: For the first time, Pooh's spelling of "H-U-N-N-Y" is called out by Piglet, who points out it's actually spelled "H-O-N-E-Y". Rabbit concludes that Pooh just spelt it how it sounds.
- Ode to Food: "Give It a Try", in which Piglet, Rabbit and then Tigger try to convince Pooh to try different foods.
- Picky Eater: Pooh, having eaten nothing but honey all his life, isn't really enthusiastic for any of the alternative dishes his friends offer him.
- Rule of Three: Piglet, Rabbit and Tigger each recommend a dish each to Pooh, which he refuses. In the end, mixing them all together (by accident) gets Pooh to eat them.
- Stock "Yuck!": Rabbit's dishes for Pooh to try are primarily made of carrots. Pooh isn't eager to try them, of course.
- Strike Episode: Downplayed. The bees of the wood go on strike, but the main focus of the episode is the gang struggling to find Pooh something to eat that isn't honey. In the end, the bees get the vacation they want and start making honey again, to everyone's relief.
