18th January Winnie the Pooh Day

 
It is Winnie the Pooh Day! It is held on this day because it is the creator of the stories, A.A.Milne's birthday. Milne created these stories for his son Christopher Robin who had a teddy bear, bought from Harrods that he named Winnie-the-Pooh after the bear, Winnie that he visited at the London Zoo.

Winnie-the-Pooh (or Pooh) and Christopher Robin had adventures in Hundred Acre Wood, which was inspired by Five Hundred Acre Wood in Ashwood Forest in East Sussex—situated 48kms  south of London—where the Londoner Milne's country home was located. Joining them on these adventures were other animal characters that were also based on toys of Christopher Milne – Piglet, Eyesore, Kanga, Roo and Tigger. 

The stories first appeared in1924. In 1961,The Walt Disney Company bought a license to use Pooh as a cartoon/movie character and they removed the hyphens in his name and dressed him in the clothes seen on the Disney Pooh. The original toys are in a glass case at the New York Library and they look like the E.H Shepherd illustrations.

I love reading Finding Winnie by Lindsay Mattick to my Year 2 classes. They are amazed to learn that a bear went from Winnipeg in Canada to England with a vet during World War Iand that the bear was gifted to the London Zoo. I also read the picture book biography of A.A Milne  by Charlotte Guillain to the students so that they can compare Milne's World War I endeavours with that of the army vet, Harry Colebourn.

When it comes to the actual Pooh stories, I much prefer the original E.H.Shepherd illustrations. but I know that the young children I teach prefer coloured illustrations and are so exposed to Disney that they want Pooh to look like the one they see.

Several well known English authors have written prequels and sequels to the stories, most notably Jane Riordan and Jeanne Willis. Jeanne Willis' picture book story episodes work well for my young audience. So far she has done four. They are illustrated by Mark Burgess. (Notice she has reinstated the hyphens).

• Winnie-the-Pooh and Me 

• Winnie-the-Pooh at the Palace

• Winnie-the-Pooh and the Party

• What Shall We Do Winnie-the-Pooh?

Jane Riordan is the author of  the picture books for Disney but you will notice that she too has used the hyphens in Pooh's name.

• Winnie-the-Pooh Meets the Queen 

• Winnie-the-Pooh: The Long Winter's Sleep

• Winnie-the-Pooh Happy Birthday to You

• Winnie-the-Pooh: A Tree for Christmas

• Winnie-the-Pooh : A Song for Christmas

• Winnie-the-Pooh; Easter Hunt 

18th January Winnie-the-Pooh Day

• January 18th has become known as Winnie the Pooh Day because author A.A. Milne was born on this day in 1882, and it was he and his son Christopher who created this loveable and wise character and introduced him to generations of readers.
• Interestingly, just this week though, a book about the history behind the bear that inspired the fiction was named as the Caldecott Medal winner. This book, Finding Winnie is written by Lindsay Mattick and illustrated by Australian-born Sophie Blackall. (See Sophie's blog for a four part discussion of the illustrating of this book)
• Lindsay Mattick is the great-granddaughter of Harry Colebourn, a vet who rescued a baby bear in Canada in 1914. He named the bear Winnie after his hometown, Winnipeg. He took the bear to Europe when he went off to war. Eventually, Winnie ends up in the London Zoo and there he makes a new friend, Christopher Robin, the son of author Alan Alexander Milne. Lindsay's website tells you Harry's story in more detail and has a wealth of information about the making of this book and her family history.
• Last year American author Sally M. Walker also published a book about the real bear that inspired the stories of Winnie-the-Pooh. Putting these two books and the film A Bear Named Winnie together as a precursor to or a follow up to some fun reading the original stories would make an enjoyable unit of work.
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• I need no excuse whatsoever to revel in the wonderful language, humour and languidness of Pooh.
•  "If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together… there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart… I'll always be with you."
• And as school rolls around next week I know this will be me...
•  "When late morning rolls around and you're feeling a bit out of sorts, don't worry; you're probably just a little eleven o'clockish."

18th January A.A.Milne (1882 - 1956) Raymond Briggs (1934) Catherine Anholt (1958)

You don't need an excuse like Alan Alexander Milne's birthday to read Winnie-the-Pooh! You could do it any day just because you want to. Similarly you don't need an excuse to read his poetry. The children at school love it when I recite Missing or parts of Disobedience or Rice Pudding.

A.A. Milne was already a writer, when his son Christopher Robin was born in 1920. In 1924 he published a book of verse called When We Were Very Young. Included in this collection was a poem about a teddy bear, the first reference to Winnie-the-Pooh. Milne went on to write a book about this bear, other toys and a boy with the same name as his son. Winnie-the-Pooh was published in 1926 and another book about them and another book of verse followed later. The characters in the Pooh stories were inspired by stuffed toys of Christopher's. These original toys can be seen in the Children's Room in the New York Library. I have seen them. They look sad, as if they are waiting for Christopher to return and play with them. I also think it is because they belong in England amongst original artwork by Ernest Shepherd and early editions of the books. They would then not look out of place.

Milne's widow sold the book rights to Disney and that is why when you see Winnie-the-Pooh these days in picture book versions of the stories, he is more likely to be a very golden colour with a red jacket than to look like the loveable gentle creatures that Ernest Shepherd created.

Another English author, but with a completely different oeuvre is Raymond Briggs. For me he is the original graphic novelist. The children in my library know his work because of The Snowman and Father Christmas in both book and video format. Both get used extensively in the lead up to Christmas. Jim and the Beanstalk, a fractured version of Jack and the Beanstalk is also well-borrowed.

Catherine Anholt, also English, is the author illustrator with her husband, Laurence of the picture books about those mischievous chimpanzees, Chimp and Zee among other wonderful books for preschoolers.