Winnie-the-Pooh's Winnipeg connection began in August of 1914 when a young veterinarian, Lieutenant Harry Colebourn, enlisted in the Canadian army. Harry's regiment, The Fort Garry Horse, soon left Winnipeg on a train bound for Quebec. The train stopped at White River, Ontario. There, on the station platform, Harry spotted a hunter carrying an orphaned black bear cub. Harry bought the cub for twenty dollars and they continued on their journey together. Harry named the bear Winnie after his current home base of Winnipeg. The two soon became good friends and after a short stay in Quebec they sailed for England. While camped at Salisbury Plain Winnie stayed in Colebourn's tent, slept under his cot, and became a favourite of the Canadian soldiers. When Lt. Colebourn's unit was ordered to the battlefields of France, Harry placed Winnie in the London Zoo for safekeeping. Four years later, in 1918, Harry returned to London to take Winnie home. It didn't take long for Harry to realize what a hit Winnie was with the children. Harry donated Winnie to the London Zoo permanently and Harry, now a Captain, returned to Winnipeg alone.
Among the many visitors to London Zoo was a young boy named Christopher Robin and his father A. A. Milne. Christopher Robin adored Winnie and renamed his stuffed teddy Winnie-the-Pooh. Shortly afterwards A.A. Milne began writing stories based on the adventures of his son's toy animals. The books of Pooh stories became an instant success and Winnie-the-Pooh is still beloved by children to this day.
Winnipeg continues to celebrate its unique relationship with the exuberant Winnie-the-Pooh. In the city's Assiniboine Park you will find two special Winnie tributes: a bronze statue of Captain Colebourn and Winnie, and an original oil portrait of Winnie-the-Pooh by the illustrator Ernest H. Shepard - forever linking Winnie-the-Pooh to the city which gave him its name.
B Andersen
Inventing Wonderland by Jackie Wullschlager
Five eccentric men's obsession with childhood revolutionized children's writing, created a new form of best seller, and established the idea of a children's classic that still exists today. In this very readable book, the underlying theme of the changing role of children in Victorian and Edwardian England runs through detailed biographical sketches of Lewis Carroll, Edward Lear, J. M. Barrie, Kenneth Grahame and A. A. Milne.
B Milne
A.A. Milne: The Man Behind Winnie-the Pooh by Ann Thwaite
This engrossing book is the first full-length biography of A.A. Milne and sets the "Pooh" books in the context of his long career as a poet, playwright and humorist.
A Bear Named Winnie
CBC TV's production of the story of Winnie, the black bear adopted by Lieutenant Harry Colebourn of Winnipeg on his way to fight in the first World War.
J 819.154 SOK
The Romance of the Captain and Winnie the Bear by Mia Sokoloski
A lively story in poetic form of the little Canadian bear cub who traveled from Northern Ontario to London England in 1914.
By Christopher Milne...
B Milne
The Enchanted Places
From a distance of fifty years, with gentle wit and a gift for vivid detail, Christopher Milne looks back at his childhood as the son of a famous author and as a character in his father's best-known books.
B Milne
The Path Through the Trees
Christoper Milne continues his autobiography, writing with humour and honesty of his years with the Royal Engineers during World War II, his happy marriage and his search for a path in life free of the shadow of his father's -and "Christopher Robin's" fame.
B Milne
The Hollow on the Hill
This third volume of Christopher Milne's wonderful trilogy details his inward journey towards a personal philosophy and faith rooted in his intense awareness of and love for the natural world.
By Ernest Shepard...
B Shepard
Drawn From Memory
Recalling in words and delightful pictures the events of 1887, when he was 8 years old, Ernest Shepard, the illustrator of the Pooh books, creates a charming portrait of upper middle-class life in late Victorian England.
B Shepard
Drawn From Life
In his second book of reminiscences Ernest Shepard takes us from the year 1890, when his mother's death greatly altered his family's life, through his student years and early success as an illustrator, to his marriage in 1904 to a fellow artist.
741.642 SHE
The Pooh Sketchbook Edited by Brian Sibley
The success of Shepard's illustrations for A. A. Milne's poems in When We Were Very Young led to one of the most successful author/illustrator collaborations in the history of children's literature. These sketches and drawings from the Shepard bequest in London's Victoria and Albert Museum show the careful study Shepard made of the settings around the Milne home and the nursery toys as he worked on the decorations for the "Pooh" books.
741.942 SHE
The Work of Ernest Shepard Edited by Rawle Knox
An affectionate, lavishly illustrated biography published to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ernest Shepard.
By A.A. Milne...
J 821 MIL
When We Were Very Young
A.A. Milne's first collection of poetry for children introduces Christopher Robin and includes some of childhood's best-loved verse, such as "Buckingham Palace", "The King's Breakfast", and Disobedience".
J FICTION MILNE
Winnie-the-Pooh
In this first collection of stories we meet Christopher Robin's friends Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet and Eeyore and go on "expotitions" in the Hundred Acre Wood.
J 821 MILNE
Now We Are Six
In this second collection of verse "The Knight Whose Armor Didn't Squeak", "The Good Little Girl", and "The Little Black Hen" are just some of the poems that have an effervescent appeal to listeners and readers of all ages.
J FICTION MILNE
The House at Pooh Corner
In the further adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh and friends we meet Tigger, and Piglet does a Very Grand Thing.
J FICTION MILNE
The Complete Tales & Poems of Winnie-the-Pooh
This full-colour 75th anniversary collector's edition contains the complete text of Winnie-the-Pooh, The House at Pooh Corner, When We Were Very Young and Now We Are Six.
