Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear
By Jan Carr,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Moving story of bear that inspired Winnie-the-Pooh.
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What's the Story?
FINDING WINNIE: THE TRUE STORY OF THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS BEAR is the story of the inspiration for A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh and is told as three stories in one. The most prominent is the story of Harry Colebourn, a young Canadian veterinarian/soldier who ships off to World War I and en route saves a young bear cub whom he names Winnie, short for his hometown of Winnipeg. When his unit is sent to combat, he takes Winnie to live at the London Zoo. That story's told as a bedtime story to Harry's great-great-grandson by his mom, who supplies family details, supplemented by a family album that includes old photos and diary entries. Once Winnie's at the zoo, the book shifts to the third story, told separately though clearly connected. When A.A. Milne brings his young son, Christopher Robin, to the zoo, the boy befriends the bear and names his own stuffed bear after his new friend, giving birth to the Winnie-the-Pooh stories.
Is It Any Good?
Winner of the 2016 Caldecott Medal, this artful tale covers a lot of ground, but readers are carried along by the transporting detail in the art. The bear cub, rescued at a desolate whistle stop in Canada, is adorable, cuddly as a kitten. And the scenes of the soldiers give a graphic sense of the scope and daily detail of the war. Author Lindsay Mattick skillfully handles some difficult subjects -- what trappers do, the fate of soldiers at war -- and uses lyrical language. For example, when Harry's on the train, he watches "the land scroll by."
Illustrator Sophie Blackall cleverly orients the reader and aids the instruction. On a page about the family tree, she draws an actual tree, with each generation perched on a branch. Later, an "album" she pictures in the story segues into actual photos and diary entries from the time. This is a rich book that begs for repeated readings.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about kindness. Why did Harry save Winnie? Why did he give her up even though he loved her?
What details do you see in the pictures that show this is not our time but 100 years ago? Why were horses going to war? What kind of car is Harry driving? How were zoos different then from what they are today?
How are bear cubs and other wild animals best cared for? How can we protect them?
Book Details
- Author: Lindsay Mattick
- Illustrator: Sophie Blackall
- Genre: Picture Book
- Topics: Book Characters, Friendship, History, Wild Animals
- Book type: Non-Fiction
- Publishers: Little, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
- Publication date: October 20, 2015
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 3 - 6
- Number of pages: 56
- Available on: Nook, Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Award: Caldecott Medal and Honors
- Last updated: February 10, 2020
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