A. Milne's stories as characters that interact with him while he writes The Tao of Pooh, but also quotes excerpts of their tales from Milne's actual books Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner, in order to exemplify his points to the reader and the characters.

In contrast, characters like Owl and Rabbit over-complicate problems, often over-thinking to the point of confusion, and Eeyore pessimistically complains and frets about existence, unable to just be.

Hoff regards Pooh's simpleminded nature, unsophisticated worldview and instinctive problem-solving methods as conveniently representative of the Taoist philosophical foundation.

The book also incorporates translated excerpts from various prominent Taoist texts, from authors such as Laozi and Zhuang Zhou.

[2][3][4][5] In April 2018, Hoff wrote a letter to his publisher informing them that he planned to recapture the copyright for The Tao of Pooh on December 15, 2018.