Rating: 
Summary: Playful use of Knowledge
Review: Hoff uses Pooh Bear and all of the other characters from Winnie the Pooh to ease a seeker into understanding Buddhism, Taoism and the general balance of the universe, a little bit better. This book was different from many other books on Buddhism/Taoism, in that it is playful and imaginative, rather than concrete and absorbed in discipline and standards. I think that this is a great read for anybody interested in the Asian religions, who also can appreciate the cute, yet meaningful metaphors that Hoff offers within this book.
Rating: 
Summary: I liked the book in a way, but I had BIG problems with it.
Review: This book is cute, and I enjoyed many parts of it, but.... He wrote the book from a western-Philisophical stand point but he gleened items from religious/folk Taoism as it suited his needs. This is not a useful approach, as I am CERTAIN that he and most all of the fans of this book would reject religous/ folk Taoism.
It is not that you cannot find use in folk Taoism... but the way that he presented "his" Taoism as a *total religion* quite was misleading. Perhaps he is just hoping that the American readers will be to azy to research Taoism any further *shrug*
But he made a huge mistake in presenting all things classified as "taoist" as being infalliable and all other things... not. He often criticised other religions, but, having opened up the folk-Taoist "can of worms" he opened Taoism to a scrutiny in which it would fare no better than any other doctrine (mind you that Taoism has been around for thousands of years, and it is no fault to Taoism that it has picked up "[stuff]" along the way.... however Hoff used examples that I would put in the "[stuff]" catagory).
Hoff spoke of being "playful" and tried to be playful, but I found much of that to be forced, or trite in the least. There were many bitter and non-playful parts to the book as well.
He "playfully" mocked and degraded 90% of the residents on planet earth in one way or the other. I actually found the book to be rather severe! In presenting it as a doctrine with a set of beliefs and folk-stories, Taoism gains the same problems as any other religion.
Although he repeatedly denounces dogma, he makes a dogma of Taoism. I also didn't get to pooh/Taoism parallel except in the most superficial sense... the actual Winnie the Pooh stories include Pooh doing some quite un-Taoist things. He does have Tao-spirit though, I admit. :)
Rating:
Summary: Philosophy Made Fun
Review: For those of you who, like me, are interested in philososphy but find most philosophical writings boring and overly complicated, this is the book for you. Hoff explains Taoism through the adventures of Whinnie the Pooh. If you've ever read any of A.A. Milne's novels, the style of this book should be familiar. As Hoff writes about Whinnie the Pooh and his Taoist attitude towards life, Pooh and Piglet comment on his writing and ask him questions. So how is Pooh an example of Taoism? Because he is simple-minded and unconditionally happy. Pooh lives a life of harmony because he never frets or hesitates. He simply goes with the flow, and that is what Taoism teaches. This book is a happy retreat to childhood combined with philisophical teachings that only an adult could understand. I highly recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Helpful
Review: When trying to teach Taoism in a Western classroom, foreign words and concepts, as well as scholarly language, often hinder me. Many students, and myself, get bogged down in what the author says rather than explore what Taoism is. This book is a helpful tool. It is a quick read. Although you will not get all from the book until you reflect more on it, the language is easy to follow and the example of Pooh is witty and not threatening (rather than the names with unknown pronunciations). I would recommend this to anyone wanting to move towards understanding Tao and Wu Wei.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: A nice introduction to eastern philosophy and a good read for those seeking wisdom. In a modern society filled with superficial standards, noise polution and electronic everythings, this book is a welcome break that may just affect the ways you think and react. I also love and highly recommend the 'Open Your Mind, Open Your Life' book of wisdom by Taro Gold which, like the Tao of Pooh, teaches that life is not about what happens to us, it's how we perceive what happens. Wonderful!
Rating:
Summary: Enlightening and refreshing
Review: Through the eyes of Pooh I've learned that wisdom above all things should be the goal. In a quest for knowledge I found myself in contempt of the natural order of things and became ultimately confused . Bejamin Hoff simplifies the process of "the way" in a thoughtful manner easily understood.I saw myself as each character described.
Not interfering with the "ebb and flow" of nature leads to wisdom. This theme, throughout the book, characterizes how to enjoy life and all its simple pleasures.
Read this book and breathe easy again!
Rating:
Summary: It helps me identify with pooh bear
Review: Winnie the pooh has got to be the safest "person" to identify with that the world has to offer. Not only is pooh a taoist master, but he also embodies the healthiest Freudian super ego I have ever seen. As to the reviewer below commenting about the vinegar tasters, it sums up exactly my inability to embrace buddhism. The ideal of buddism is to be happy, but they leverage a reflex mechanism in the human brain to do it, by looking at horrors of the world, as does christianity, as does the ancient aztecs with their live human sacrafice. It does work, but Pooh is just so much more direct for those people who have the temperment for looking at the world without a filter like identifying with perceptions of suffering. Pooh is just happy because he IS happy. He doesn't need the psychological transformations offered by other religions. So I just want to give him a big hug, not for being a paradigm of anything, but for being a cute cuddly pooh bear who is always there with his childlike, taoist simplicity.
Rating:
Summary: An unfortunate misunderstanding.
Review: Mr. Hoff, in quoting "The Vinegar Tasters", may have misunderstood Buddhism. As a Buddhist, with some experience, I have never looked at the Universe as a 'setter of traps' nor am I embittered by life on earth. Just saddened. More likely, we are the generators of illusion and are working out our karma. Buddhism is more in accord with finding the lessons of our lives in our karma and taking responsibility. We do not turn away from the 'dust of the world'. We wipe it from our eyes. Other than the above, I find joyful calm in its reading.
Rating:
Summary: The TAO of POOH. [the how of.. who?]
Review: ...how to stay HAPPY and calm under all circumstances.The elegant picture which adorns the cover of this graceful artistic accomplishment, reminds me of one of our fore-fathers' Benjamin Franklin, who seriously believed that- his experiment in the storm would help the rest of us to achieve a level of understanding- that would enable Us to understand Nature',or in this case that lightning was electricity. This book is not composed of foibles but rather is a collection of these positive truths.. The Author will actually read it to you,(on the tapes.) and comfort you with his beliefs in positive thinking and how this relates to life Today,and Yesterday, and Tomorrow. By expressing these older Truths in a new way-to carry foward the message. What life has is enough and is well worth waiting for. I believe that if you wait long enough that this truth will find you. However through this Honest approach in these two books; The Tao of POOH: and The Te of Piglet.. you can relax and sink into the breadth of his interpretation of Modern philosophy..Leaving you to feel good afterwords maybe better than you felt before you started. It is a 'how to book' I believe, that if you study it you will learn something about foward movement in Positive Thinking. [along with Peale; Cayce; Browne; Castanada and some of the Host of other's.] I will give you 'a leaf or a flower'- and that is acceptable- I will accept that.
Rating:
Summary: On simplicity and wisdom
Review: On simplicity and wisdom and how they go hand in hand
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