Many of us cherished a favorite teddy bear as children. Some of us still have that bear. A delightful children’s picture book on the Library shelves shares the story behind Winnie Pooh in Winnie: The True Story of the Bear Who Inspired Winnie-the-Pooh, by Sally Walker.
Harry Colebourn was a veterinarian with a Canadian army until during World One. As his unit began their journey across Canada en route to England, Harry spotted the bear with a man in the train station. The mother had died and the man couldn’t keep the bear. Winnie, named after Harry’s home town of Winnipeg, became his company’s mascot. When he was being deployed to France from England, Harry knew he had to find a new home for the bear and he did in the London Zoo where she enjoyed many years with her bear and human friends. She was so tame that children could feed her and ride on her back. Christopher Robin Milne, son of the famous children’s author, A. Milne, was one of the children who visited Winnie in the zoo and named his own bear Winnie the Pooh. This is indeed a remarkable story of a real bear and the soldier who cared for her.
-Nancy Hanaman