How will you celebrate Winnie-the-Pooh Day?
So wherever I am, there’s always Pooh,
There’s always Pooh and Me.
“What would I do?” I said to Pooh,
“If it wasn’t for you,” and Pooh said: “True”
Today commemorates A.A. Milne’s birthday. He was born on 18 January 1882.
Alan Alexander Milne is of course best known for creating Winnie-the-Pooh, the much-loved honey-loving bear.
Winnie the Pooh first appeared on the printed page in 1926, together with friends Piglet, Tigger and Eeyore. All of them were based on toys owned by the author’s son, Christopher, who featured in the stories as Christopher Robin.
Pooh Bear was inspired by a black bear named Winnie who lived at London Zoo during World War I. Christopher would visit the bear often and named his own teddy bear after her and a swan named Pooh.
This friendship inspired a collection of books starting with Winnie-the-Pooh in 1926 and delightfully illustrated by E.H. Shepard.
Today is perfect for dressing up as Winnie-the-Pooh, reading some of Milne’s classic Pooh stories, creating some Winnie-the-Pooh artwork, having a game of Poohsticks and holding a teddy bears’ picnic in your own Hundred Acre Wood with plenty of honey on the menu!
There is a darker side to the world of Winnie the Pooh and this is explored in the film Goodbye Christopher Robin.
This must-see will re-contextualise everything you thought you knew about Pooh, its creator and his son. As Frank Cottrell Boyce says in The Guardian, “The tragedy of Milne’s success is that it trapped a real child in time like a fly in amber.”
Links:
Take a look at the Metro’s, ‘10 things you probably never knew about our favourite honey-loving bear‘ for some fun facts.