Hay Festival Book Club – Winnie-the-Pooh
– Free Online
“You’re the Best Bear in All the World,” said Christopher Robin.
“Am I?” said Pooh hopefully.
He may be a Bear of Very Little Brain, but thanks to his friends Piglet, Eeyore and, of course, Christopher Robin, Winnie the Pooh is never far from an adventure.
A.A. Milne’s classic children’s story was first published in October 1926, nearly 100 years ago, introducing a gently humorous world full of lessons on friendship and kindness, brought to life with E.H. Shepard’s iconic illustrations.
It is the book that inspired millions of people around the world on their reading journeys – an appropriate starting point for the UK’s National Year of Reading.
Read it? Loved it? Let us know what you think over on our new Instagram page, @hayfestivalbookclub.
Further reading
How a wet Welsh summer helped create Winnie-the-Pooh, BBC Wales
Winnie-the-Pooh at 100: how EH Shepard brought a little bear to life, The Times
About the authors
A.A. Milne was born in London in 1882. He began his literary career as editor of Granta magazine, and was assistant editor of Punch, later becoming a highly successful writer of plays, poems and novels. He based Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger, Kanga and Roo on the real nursery toys of his son Christopher Robin. In 1925, Winnie-the-Pooh made his first appearance in a Christmas story in the London Evening News. The following year, Winnie-the-Pooh was published and was an instant success, as was The House at Pooh Corner, in 1928. Since then, Pooh has become a world-famous bear, and Milne’s stories have been translated into seventy-two languages.
E.H. Shepard was born in London in 1879. He won a scholarship to the Royal Academy Schools and later worked as an artist, illustrator and cartoonist. Shepard’s witty and loving decorations of Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood have become an inseparable part of the Pooh stories, and classics in their own right.
Header image copyright © The Trustees of The Pooh Properties, The Trustees of The Shepard Trust and HarperCollins Publishers Limited.
About Hay Festival Book Club
Timeless titles to offer you a break from the day to day. Can't decide what to read next? Follow your curiosity and join Hay Festival on a journey to imagine the world anew through great literature. Unconstrained by genre or form these are our monthly picks of great books worth reading (or re-reading) right now.
Throughout the month, we'll share interesting links and articles relating to our selection on social media using #HFBookClub and invite you all to get involved with your questions and comments. Each selection will also be marked with a free online event.
If you'd like to recommend a book for consideration, get in touch via bookclub@hayfestival.org.
Happy reading!
Supported by Unwin Charitable Trust.
Buy the book for this event
Winnie the Pooh
'You're the Best Bear in All the World,' said Christopher Robin. 'Am I?' said Pooh hopefully.
E.H.Shepard's original, iconic artwork has been reproduced for this 100th anniversary range so it truly pays homage to the vividness of the original art that accompanied Milne's classic, favourite stories.
Meet the world's favourite bear in this delightful collection, in which Pooh gets into a tight place, nearly catches a Woozle, and discovers the wrong sort of honey - amongst other things!
A.A.Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh is nothing less than a true children's classic. Winnie-the-Pooh may be a Bear of Very Little Brain, but thanks to his friends Piglet, Eeyore and, of course, Christopher Robin, he's never far from an adventure.
The first 100 orders will receive a new specially designed Winnie the Pooh bookmark.
