But how did it all begin?

Alan Alexander Milne Winnie -the - Pooh

Alan Alexander Milne & Christopher Robin Alan Alexander Milne might never have written for children had it not been for the birth of his son, Christopher Robin Milne, in Alan Alexandra Milne (Alan) born January 18th, 1882, was brought up in London in his father's School, Henley House. As he grew up he tried himself as a writer. He wrote detective stories. But after Christophers birth on the 21st August, 1920 he began to write childish verses those became very popular. He decided to write a children's book entitled "When We Were Young" published in 1924.

How Winnie got his name… Back in 1921, a small stuffed bear bought from Harrods department store was given to Christopher Robin (more often called Billy), from his mother, Daphne. This bear was called Edward at first, and sometimes Big Bear, or Teddy Bear. The story of how Christopher's toy became knows as Winnie-the-Pooh has two partsWinnie and Pooh.

A real bear named Winnie was a popular attraction at the London Zoo. At the outbreak of World War I,a Canadian veterinary surgeon was on his way from Winnipeg he bought a bear cub from the hunter who'd shot the cub's mother. The young officer named the cub Winnie (for Winnipeg), and the bear travelled with him to England. When the soldiers left for France, Winnie was left in the care of the London Zoo, and it was there that Christopher Robin discovered her. Winnie was incredibly tame, and on one occasion Christopher was allowed into Winnie's cage to feed her. Although the "real live" Winnie did not like honey, she did have a sweet tooth and reportedly preferred condensed milk to raw meat.

The name "Pooh," rather surprisingly, came not from a bear but a swan. A. A. Milne wrote:"Christopher Robin, who feeds this swan in the mornings, has given him the name of 'Pooh.' This is a very fine name for a swan, because, if you call him and he doesn't come (which is a thing swans are good at), then you can pretend that you were just saying 'Pooh!' to show him how little you wanted him."

Guess who?

Poohs friends Eeyore was a Christmas present in 1921, and Piglet was a gift from a neighbour in Chelsea. Kanga and Roo appeared in the nursery in (Roo had disappeared many years before this photo was taken.) Tigger didn't show up in the nursery until after Now We Are Six had been written.

A. A. Milne called Owl and Rabbit "my own unaided work." They were the only two characters drawn not from Christopher's toys but from the natural world near Cotchford Farm, the Milnes' property in Sussex.

Where it took place… The Winnie-the-Pooh stories are set in Ashdown Forest, Sussex, England. In 1925 Milne, a Londoner, bought a country home a mile to the north of the forest at Cotchford Farm, near Hartfield.

How the world knew… Winnie-the-Pooh first appeared by name on 24 December 1925, in a Christmas story commissioned and published by the London newspaper The Evening News. It was illustrated by J. H. Dowd The first collection of Pooh stories appeared in the book Winnie-the-Pooh. The Evening News Christmas story reappeared as the first chapter of the book, and at the very beginning it explained that Pooh was in fact Christopher Robin's Edward Bear, who had simply been renamed by the boy. The book was published in October 1926 by the publisher of Milne's earlier children's work, Methuen, in England, and E. P. Dutton in the United States.

Who gave Pooh his appearance… All these books were illustrated in a beautiful way by E.H. Shepard The Pooh-books had also been favourites of Walt Disney's daughters and it inspired Disney to bring Pooh to film in In 1977 'the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh', the first feature-length animated film of Pooh was released.

How it finished… Over 100 Pooh books have been published by Dutton Children's Books alone, and Winnie-the- Pooh has been translated into over 50 languages, including Russian. So let us all say three cheers for Pooh-the Best Bear in All the World.