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The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh The story behind "The Many Adventures of Winnie
the Pooh" began during the First World War. A lieutenant by
the name Harry Colebourn bought a small black female club from a
hunter, who had killed its mother, in White River, Ontario for $20.
He named her after his hometown of Winnipeg and called the bear
Winnie for short. She became the unit's mascot and traveled to England
with the Brigade. When Colebourn was then stationed in France, he
decided to give Winnie to the London Zoo. From the time she was
donated in December of 1919, Winnie became a popular attraction
at the zoo until 1934. A.A. Milne began to write stories about his son, Winnie the Pooh, and his friends who lived together in the "100 Acre Wood". The most of the other characters in the tale were based on stuffed animals belonging to his son. However, the characters of Rabbit and Owl were based upon animals that lived in the countryside near Milne's home. It is also this area that the 100-acre wood is based on. "The Wrong Sort of Bees" was printed in
London Evening News in 1925 and became Pooh's first published story.
The tale was so popular Milne wrote several books and poems about
Pooh over the next three years. Young and old alike have come to
treasure the Pooh books that have been translated into over 40 languages. |
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