A.A. Milne's classic 1928 children's book The House at Pooh Corner remains a highly effective children's text nearly ninety years later. This can be attributed to the format, themes and development concepts described in the book. The concepts contained in the book are in line with those of Piaget, Vygotsky and Erikson, three influential developmental psychologists. Animism, concept formation, the ZPD (zone of proximal development), and confidence in the ability to learn are all central parts of child and book development. These factors are why stories still engage young audiences today. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The main characters in the book illustrate Piaget's theory of animism which coincides with the child's belief in the concept. Animism is the theory that every entity has consciousness. For example, for a child a teddy bear is the same as him, with emotions and feelings. The book illustrates this perfectly, as all the characters except one (Christopher Robin) are portrayed as talking animals. Characters are not introduced or explained individually, but rather the reader is expected to get a feel for the character from his actions, words, and pictorial representations. Very early in the book, Pooh's manner and tone are introduced to the reader: “He's outside, that's what he is, he's not in, I'll have to take a quick thinking walk alone. Annoyance!" (p1) This simplistic and quite comical style of speech is a first introduction to who Pooh is. The interesting words classify him as a curious and quirky character and quickly engage the audience. A most important part of this first introduction is that his appearance is depicted as a teddy bear-like creature, immediately evoking thoughts of the child's animism. The engaging personality and pictorial representation create an almost instant connection between the story and the audience, thanks to the child's belief in animism. Many times in the book there are occasions where an adult or a peer is required to help the child in reading and understanding the concepts represented. This was the difference between the child's ability to learn and solve problems on his own and his ability with the nonintrusive assistance of someone else. This scaffolding process leads to effective conceptual formation that gives the child an understanding of the issue that could not be achieved alone. The most common mistake that requires help is the way Owl writes his name. 'He could spell his own name WOL' (p79) this will perhaps go unnoticed by a young solo reader, but with someone's help, this simple mistake can lead to the formation of positive spelling habits in the child. The other factor in this error is that it occurs halfway through the book and happens the same way in later stages. This ensures that the child can recognize the mistake after being helped the first time, and this can cement the concept. This mistake is one of the few deliberate occasions in the book, all of which can be recognized and resolved by the child. Mistakes can offer the child not only a comical element, but also an educational, engaging and interesting one. This interactive nature becomes a feature of the book that is “unlocked” by the scaffolding process. This gives an educational perspective to the text, demonstrating its persistent effectiveness. The book appears to be a novel but contains a much more picture book-like layout that can help a child conquer perhaps their first novel..