Winnie the Pooh Turns 90

This Friday marks the 90th anniversary of A.A. Milne’s classic book about a bear of very little brain, Winnie the Pooh, with illustrations by E.H. Shepard. First published October 14, 1926, Winnie the Pooh and all of his friends who lived in the Hundred Acre Wood instantly warmed the hearts of thousands of families. His popularity has only grown since then with Milne’s second book, The House at Pooh Corner, poetry collections, When We Were Very Young and Now We Are Six (Pooh makes appearances in both) as well as the famed Disney animated series created in the 60s with continued renditions still being produced today.

Winnie the Pooh is based on A.A. Milne’s real life son, Christopher Robin, and the stuffed animals his mother bought for him. Winnie the Pooh, a teddy bear, was the original animal given to him on his first birthday. Christopher gave his special toy the name of Winnie after a real life bear he frequently visited at the London Zoo. How Pooh came about is described by Milne in the first chapter of Winnie the Pooh, “But his arms were so stiff ... they stayed up straight in the air for more than a week, and whenever a flycame and settled on his nose he had to blow it off. And I think – but I am not sure – that that is why he is always called Pooh.” The magical Hundred Acre Wood is based upon Ashdown Forest in Sussex, England where Milne and his family had a country home that they visited regularly. Many of the real places on this property show up in the books.

A new sequel, The Best Bear in All the World, will be released later this month (Oct. 25) celebrating 90 years of Pooh. Look for it in our catalog soon. This book is a collaboration of four authors with four new stories, one of which will introduce a new...oh, think, think, think… penguin character. Why a penguin? Well, this long-lost friend of Christopher Robin’s was once his real toy as discovered in a forgotten photograph. The penguin was one of the same stuffed animals purchased at Harrods toy department as Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore, Kanga and Roo but did not appear in the stories most likely due to other popular penguin characters starring in books published around the same time. “Winter” is the title of the story this character appears in, and it will be

exciting to read all about its encounters with the inhabitants of the Hundred Acre Wood.

I grew up with loveable Pooh and his unique set of friends by watching the old 60s animated series. He filled my heart with joy and love and adventure at a very young age. It wasn’t until college that I finally sat down and read the original story by A.A. Milne and fell in love with it. Now that I have kids of my own, I look forward to reading it to them. In fact, when my son Oliver was two, I started reading him a couple of pages a night of Winnie the Pooh, and he would actually listen and comprehend the story. I was surprised, but not too surprised. I mean, who could resist hearing about a silly old bear stuck in tree with bees and honey? However, now that Oliver is a bit older and better able to appreciate the story, I am eager to share it with him again. This time sitting still (hopefully).

What about you? Did you grow up loving Pooh? Will you read the new story? Let us know, and remember, “When you see someone putting on his Big Boots, you can be pretty sure that an Adventure is going to happen.” It’s time to adventure again with Pooh.

Of A.A. Milne and Classic Pooh

Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore Too