Milne

Today is the anniversary A. A. Milne's death (January 18, 1882 – January 31, 1956). Milne was a British author, best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh and for various children's poems. He was a noted writer, primarily as a playwright, before the huge success of Pooh overshadowed all his previous work.

Milne wrote two Pooh books (published in 1926 and 1928) about a boy named Christopher Robin after his son, Christopher Robin Milne, and various characters inspired by his son's stuffed animals, most notably the bear named Winnie-the-Pooh. Christopher Robin Milne's stuffed bear, originally named "Edward", was renamed "Winnie-the-Pooh" after a Canadian black bear named Winnie (after Winnipeg), which was used as a military mascot in World War I, and left to London Zoo during the war. "The pooh" comes from a swan called "Pooh". E. H. Shepard illustrated the original Pooh books, using his own son's teddy, Growler ("a magnificent bear"), as the model. The rest of Christopher Robin Milne's toys, Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Owl, Rabbit and Tigger, were incorporated into A. A. Milne's stories. Christopher Robin Milne's own toys are now under glass in New York.