Graphic shows the origins of Winnie-the-Pooh and how he came to be one of the world’s most beloved literary characters, for both children and adults alike.
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ENTERTAINMENT

Christopher Robin gone but not forgotten

By Ninian Carter

August 21, 2020 - Christopher Robin Milne, immortalised in A.A. Milne’s books Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner, was born 100 years ago.

Christopher Milne, son of famed writer A.A. Milne, was born on August 21, 1920. He is gone, but not forgotten due to the enduring legacy of his namesake.

When Christopher Robin Milne was aged about one, he received a stuffed bear as a present. He soon accumulated a menagerie of similar soft toys, which inspired his father to write whimsical stories about their lives. Winnie-the-Pooh was published in 1926 and The House at Pooh Corner in 1928. Ernest Shepard illustrated the books, using Christopher Robin and his toy animals as models.

A.A. Milne, who died in 1956, wrote other books and plays, but is remembered mostly for these children’s classics. Considerable literary thought has been expended on explaining why devotion to the stories endures, a theme of a 2017-18 exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Sadly, Christopher Milne, who died in 1996, reportedly disliked the stories that immortalised him and was estranged from his father.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 12/08/2020; STORY: Graphic News; PICTURES: Associated Press, Disney, Creative Commons
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