It was a special treat to see the album of pictures of Winnie with Colebourn, the platoon members, at the London Zoo and with the original Christopher Robbins Milne. It is a revelation for me to learn that there is a family connection to the endearing story about this globally well-loved bear. The author is the great-granddaughter of Harry Colebourn, the soldier-veterinarian who found the little bear and named him Winnie. Her storytelling is warm and friendly and filled with little-known details about the bear. It is a heartwarming story for the entire family.

This is an inspiring true story by Lindsay Mattick about the origins of the most famous bear ever - Winnie-the-Pooh. It will rekindle memories of adults who loved this bear and appeal to their children and grandchildren. Here is the remarkable true story of the bear who inspired Winnie-the-Pooh. Harry Colebourn’s real-life great-granddaughter tells the true story of a remarkable friendship and an even more remarkable journey - from the fields of Canada to a convoy across the ocean to an army base in England…Īnd finally to the London Zoo, where Winnie made another new friend: a real boy named Christopher Robin. He named her Winnie, after his hometown of Winnipeg, and he took the bear to war. In 1914, Harry Colebourn, a veterinarian on his way to tend horses in World War I, followed his heart and rescued a baby bear. One about a Bear.”īook Synopsis: Before Winnie-the-Pooh, there was a real bear named Winnie.

“It’s awfully late.” It was long past dark, and a time to be asleep. Opening: “Could you tell me a story?” asked Cole. Themes: Bear, True Story, Canadian Soldier, Mascot, London Zoo, Christopher Robbins

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