Winnie the Pooh Day

On 18 January 1882 A. A. Milne, the creator of Winnie the Pooh, was born. Winnie the Pooh Day was created to celebrate the author and the group of characters we all know and love.

Winnie-the-Pooh was published in 1926, the official introduction of the loveable bear to the world. Pooh had previously appeared in 1925 in the story The Wrong Sort of Bees and, prior to that, namelessly in a poem called Teddy Bear.

To celebrate Winnie the Pooh Day and A. A. Milne's birthday, here are some interesting facts about the story behind the bear.



Fun Fact #1
The Latin translation of Winnie-the-Pooh (Winnie Ille Pu), translated and published by Dr. Alexander Lenard, is the only Latin book to ever crack The New York Times Best Seller list. It remained on the list for 20 weeks and 125,000 copies were bought.

Fun Fact #2
Winnie the Pooh is based on a real bear! A black bear cub called Winnipeg was originally bought by a Canadian soldier during World War I before becoming a resident of the London Zoological Gardens. Author A. A. Milne's son loved the bear cub so much he named his teddy bear after Winnipeg.

Fun Fact #3
Christopher Robin was A. A. Milne's son. The author wrote the collection of stories about Pooh for his son, Christopher Robin Milne, with the lead character sharing the name of his favourite bear. The books loosely follow the 'real' Christopher's life, with the inhabitants of the Hundred Acre Wood throwing him a farewell party after learning he had to leave them. In real life Christopher left home to attend boarding school at the age of nine.

Fun Fact #4
Christopher Robin has been voiced by 14 different voice actors! Out of all of these actors three made him American, whilst the others chose to use an English accent.

Fun Fact #5
The Hundred Acre Wood is based on the Ashdown Forest in East Sussex. It now has a bridge known as Poohsticks bridge in honour of the game played by Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh.

So how are you going to celebrate Winnie the Pooh Day? You could take the children out to the park and play Poohsticks in the stream. You could throw a teddy bears picnic outdoors (or indoors, weather depending!).

Alternatively, you could sit down with the family and read the book, joining Pooh and friends on their wonderful adventures in the Hundred Acre Wood. It's number 50 in the 'Read Together' section of the Kumon Recommended Reading List, so we will be visiting "The Enchanted Place", joining the "Expotition to the North Pole" and trying to catch a "Woozle"!