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Three Cheers for Pooh
Winnie-the-Pooh, first introduced by A.A. Milne in 1926, has become the most famous teddy bear in the world. This richly detailed yet exceedingly readable account celebrates Just What Pooh Did in the seventy-five years since he first appeared.
From a stuffed bear bought at Harrods for Christopher Robin Milne's first birthday to the Bear of Very Little Brain loved by millions the world over, Brian Sibley explores how Pooh got his name, how A.A. Milne came to write the stories found in 'Winnie-the-Pooh' and 'The House at Pooh Corner', how Ernest Shepherd came to draw them, and how Winnie-the-Pooh has grown in "health and wisdom and riches" into one of the most cherished literary creations of all time.
Lavishly illustrated with Shepherd's full-colour artwork and original sketches, as well as photographs, newspaper reports, and manuscript pages in Milne's own handwriting, this beautifully designed book is perfect for both seasoned Pooh admirers and those eager to get better acquainted with the Best Bear in All the World - Winnie-the-Pooh.
So now let's give him three hearty cheers ... And hope he'll be with us for years and years ... 3 Cheers for the wonderful Winnie-the-Pooh!
From a stuffed bear bought at Harrods for Christopher Robin Milne's first birthday to the Bear of Very Little Brain loved by millions the world over, Brian Sibley explores how Pooh got his name, how A.A. Milne came to write the stories found in 'Winnie-the-Pooh' and 'The House at Pooh Corner', how Ernest Shepherd came to draw them, and how Winnie-the-Pooh has grown in "health and wisdom and riches" into one of the most cherished literary creations of all time.
Lavishly illustrated with Shepherd's full-colour artwork and original sketches, as well as photographs, newspaper reports, and manuscript pages in Milne's own handwriting, this beautifully designed book is perfect for both seasoned Pooh admirers and those eager to get better acquainted with the Best Bear in All the World - Winnie-the-Pooh.
So now let's give him three hearty cheers ... And hope he'll be with us for years and years ... 3 Cheers for the wonderful Winnie-the-Pooh!
- GenresNonfictionPicture Books
128 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2001
About the author
Brian Sibley
122 books102 followersBrian Sibley is an English writer, broadcaster, and award-winning dramatist.
The author of over 100 hours of radio drama and hundreds of documentaries and features for the BBC, he is best known for his acclaimed 1981 radio adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, co-written with Michael Bakewell, as well as dramatizations of C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast novels, and Richard Adams’s Watership Down.
Sibley has also written numerous original plays for radio, presented popular BBC programmes including Kaleidoscope and Talking Pictures, and produced documentaries on figures ranging from Lewis Carroll and Ray Bradbury to Julie Andrews and Walt Disney.
His contributions to broadcasting have earned him accolades such as the Sony Radio Award and the BBC Audio Drama Award for Best Adaptation.
In print, Sibley is the author of many acclaimed film “making of” books, including Harry Potter: Film Wizardry, The Lord of the Rings: The Making of the Movie Trilogy, and Peter Jackson: A Filmmaker’s Journey, as well as companion volumes for The Hobbit films, The Golden Compass, and Disney classics. His literary works range from Shadowlands to children’s books like The Frightful Food Feud and Osric the Extraordinary Owl, with stories appearing in official Winnie-the-Pooh collections.
A noted Disney historian, Sibley has contributed essays to The Walt Disney Film Archives and recorded DVD commentaries for classic films. He is the editor of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Fall of Númenor, winner of the Tolkien Society’s Best Book award in 2023.
Sibley has served as President and Chair of The Lewis Carroll Society and is an honorary member of The Magic Circle, the Tolkien Society, and The Children’s Books History Society.
The author of over 100 hours of radio drama and hundreds of documentaries and features for the BBC, he is best known for his acclaimed 1981 radio adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, co-written with Michael Bakewell, as well as dramatizations of C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast novels, and Richard Adams’s Watership Down.
Sibley has also written numerous original plays for radio, presented popular BBC programmes including Kaleidoscope and Talking Pictures, and produced documentaries on figures ranging from Lewis Carroll and Ray Bradbury to Julie Andrews and Walt Disney.
His contributions to broadcasting have earned him accolades such as the Sony Radio Award and the BBC Audio Drama Award for Best Adaptation.
In print, Sibley is the author of many acclaimed film “making of” books, including Harry Potter: Film Wizardry, The Lord of the Rings: The Making of the Movie Trilogy, and Peter Jackson: A Filmmaker’s Journey, as well as companion volumes for The Hobbit films, The Golden Compass, and Disney classics. His literary works range from Shadowlands to children’s books like The Frightful Food Feud and Osric the Extraordinary Owl, with stories appearing in official Winnie-the-Pooh collections.
A noted Disney historian, Sibley has contributed essays to The Walt Disney Film Archives and recorded DVD commentaries for classic films. He is the editor of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Fall of Númenor, winner of the Tolkien Society’s Best Book award in 2023.
Sibley has served as President and Chair of The Lewis Carroll Society and is an honorary member of The Magic Circle, the Tolkien Society, and The Children’s Books History Society.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 10, 2023
An okay history of Winnie-the-Pooh that focuses mostly on the lives of A. A. and Christopher Robin Milne. The information is good, but the tone is dull, mostly worshipful with too many failed attempts at being cute. And what kind of diss is being perpetrated by talking about the history of Pooh and his merchandising empire and then only mentioning Walt Disney once, and parenthetically at that?
At least there are plenty of photographs and art by E. H. Shepard, including some promotional pieces and sketches that weren't included in the original books.
(My Pooh Project: I love Winnie the Pooh, and so does my wife. Having a daughter gave us a chance to indoctrinate her into the cult by buying and reading her every Pooh book we came across. How many is that? I’m going to count them this year by reading and reviewing one every day and seeing which month I finally run out. Track my progress here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list... )
At least there are plenty of photographs and art by E. H. Shepard, including some promotional pieces and sketches that weren't included in the original books.
(My Pooh Project: I love Winnie the Pooh, and so does my wife. Having a daughter gave us a chance to indoctrinate her into the cult by buying and reading her every Pooh book we came across. How many is that? I’m going to count them this year by reading and reviewing one every day and seeing which month I finally run out. Track my progress here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list... )
January 30, 2021
A history of Winnie the Pooh, this book includes photographs of the A.A. Milne family, the stuffed bear Winnie and the real black bear who shares his name, the woods that inspired the Hundred Acre Wood, and has many of the original illustrations by E.H. Shepard.
The most interesting fact: the original illustrations of Pooh that we know so well were actually based on the teddy bear belonging to illustrator E.H. Shepard's son, rather than the stuffed bear that Christopher Robin Milne loved so well. Milne wrote the stories about his son's teddy Winnie, but the one with the rolly polly tummy and round little ears was modeled after Growler, little Graham Shepard's bear.
The most interesting fact: the original illustrations of Pooh that we know so well were actually based on the teddy bear belonging to illustrator E.H. Shepard's son, rather than the stuffed bear that Christopher Robin Milne loved so well. Milne wrote the stories about his son's teddy Winnie, but the one with the rolly polly tummy and round little ears was modeled after Growler, little Graham Shepard's bear.
May 21, 2017
Perfect mix of excerpts, art, and biographical information. Love it!
July 31, 2017
Nalle Puh ei oikein koskaan kuulunut lapsuuteeni. Wn ainakaan muista, että olisi kuulunut. Enkä muista, että olisin koskaan lukenut alkuperäisiä Milnen kirjoja. Olen saattanut katsoa Disneyn version, mutta oikein siitäkään ei ole mielikuvaa. Silti tarina tuntuu erinomaisen tutulta. Tosin muutaman mukavan lisätiedon (erityisesti hahmojen historiasta, synnystä ja varhaisesta vastaanotosta) tämä kirja tarjosi. Ehkä ne pirkuleen kirjat pitäisi lukea joskus pois?
February 8, 2024
There is no doubt that in the realms of literature, Winnie-the-Pooh stands atop the list of that about bears, over the years earning himself the title 'The Best Bear in All the World'. This delightful book with superb black and white and full colour illustrations from the artist, Ernest Shepherd, who after a little bit of tweaking, created the now familiar trademark image of Winnie, tells the story from the very beginning.
Winnie, although that was not how initially known - Teddy Bear, Edward Bear or Big Bear were early names -, came from good stock, or should that be 'from a good shop', as it was from Harrods that he emerged, purchased for young Christopher Robin Milne in 1921. Of the final choice of name, AA Milne was to write, '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 you were just saying "Pooh" to show how little you wanted him.'
As for illustrator Shepherd, one of the first poems he received from the author was 'Teddy Bear' and this prompted him to say, 'I realised what a grand time was ahead of me.' And so it was as Shepherd was still drawing him at age 90! And Teddy Bear made his bow in Punch magazine in February 1924. From such modest beginnings his fame grew and grew and Brian Sibley covers his development in great detail, at the same time discussing Milne's relationship with his son (in later years father and son fell out) and how the author's wife, Daphne, played her part.
Rather like Conan Doyle and his relationship to Holmes, Milne wanted to get away from Winnie and write other things but it was difficult as his audience expected more Winnie and that is what they got. But, again like Doyle, Milne did also wrote other things, even a detective novel and, having originally refused such a task as editor of 'The Merry-Go-Round' wanted fairies involved, a poem 'The Dormouse and the Doctor'.
There were many Milne spin-offs from Winnie, such as 'The Hums of Pooh' and composer Harold Fraser-Simson set the songs to music. And Winnie-the-Pooh stories were read on the radio, initially by Donald Calthrop in 1925 and then by a variety of other actors before Peter Dennis went on to give hundreds of one-man performances of his one-man show.
Despite his undoubted Englishness, Winnie now resides in the New York Public Library while when Milne died on31 January 1956, Brian Sibley felt obliged to point out 'by which time almost everything that he had written before and after Pooh had been forgotten.' Well, after all, it's not a bad legacy and this book pays due credit to the work that Milne put in to create the legend that Pooh is today, with still more Pooh memorabilia being created all the time.
Winnie, although that was not how initially known - Teddy Bear, Edward Bear or Big Bear were early names -, came from good stock, or should that be 'from a good shop', as it was from Harrods that he emerged, purchased for young Christopher Robin Milne in 1921. Of the final choice of name, AA Milne was to write, '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 you were just saying "Pooh" to show how little you wanted him.'
As for illustrator Shepherd, one of the first poems he received from the author was 'Teddy Bear' and this prompted him to say, 'I realised what a grand time was ahead of me.' And so it was as Shepherd was still drawing him at age 90! And Teddy Bear made his bow in Punch magazine in February 1924. From such modest beginnings his fame grew and grew and Brian Sibley covers his development in great detail, at the same time discussing Milne's relationship with his son (in later years father and son fell out) and how the author's wife, Daphne, played her part.
Rather like Conan Doyle and his relationship to Holmes, Milne wanted to get away from Winnie and write other things but it was difficult as his audience expected more Winnie and that is what they got. But, again like Doyle, Milne did also wrote other things, even a detective novel and, having originally refused such a task as editor of 'The Merry-Go-Round' wanted fairies involved, a poem 'The Dormouse and the Doctor'.
There were many Milne spin-offs from Winnie, such as 'The Hums of Pooh' and composer Harold Fraser-Simson set the songs to music. And Winnie-the-Pooh stories were read on the radio, initially by Donald Calthrop in 1925 and then by a variety of other actors before Peter Dennis went on to give hundreds of one-man performances of his one-man show.
Despite his undoubted Englishness, Winnie now resides in the New York Public Library while when Milne died on31 January 1956, Brian Sibley felt obliged to point out 'by which time almost everything that he had written before and after Pooh had been forgotten.' Well, after all, it's not a bad legacy and this book pays due credit to the work that Milne put in to create the legend that Pooh is today, with still more Pooh memorabilia being created all the time.
June 29, 2021
Catching up on another Pooh book I've had in my personal library for many years. This book was published in honor of Pooh's 75th anniversary. It's a nice collection of background information, photos, and Shepard's illustrations. I would have liked to have seen more content on the role of Walt Disney and the evolution of modern Pooh vs classic Pooh. Still a very good book for Pooh fans like me.
December 5, 2019
This a biography of how the books came to be written by A. A. Milne. It talks about how the bear of Winnie the Pooh came to be and the stories were made. It gives brief description of his most popular books and some poems.
August 27, 2024
Lovely account of the origins of Winnie the Pooh, the author, the development of the books, the reviews and merchandise and info on the actual toys and locations. Quotes from AA Milne, Christopher Robin, EH Shepard and others. Beautiful illustrations and photos.
May 26, 2026
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I probably never would have come across it if my library hadn't pulled it from the non-fiction shelf because of low circulation. Glad I spotted it on the bookstore shelf, though.
April 28, 2011
Great book about how we got our favorite and loveable characters pooh, piglet, and tiger.
July 2, 2012
This is a good history of winnie the pooh, and his creators.
April 13, 2017
Enjoyable and informative history of A. A. Milne, Ernest Shephard and how Winnie the Pooh and the 100 Acre Wood came to be. I liked the illustrations, real photos of the author and illustrator and of course Christopher Robin ( Milne's son). As a fan of Winnie the Pooh, it was a delightful read. This book was put out for the 75th anniversary of Winnie the Pooh.
August 15, 2017
A well written history of that fluffy companion. Good background on the author and his family. Nothing in depth, but a pretty thorough overview with many illustrations and quotes.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews