Winnie-the-Pooh and the Wrong Sort of Bees
About the Story
A.A. Milne (1882-1956) is the author of poems, essays, novels, and plays, but he is best known for his two children’s books, Winnie-the-Pooh (1926) and The House at Pooh Corner (1928). Winnie-the-Pooh is based on the stories Milne told his young son, Christopher Robin. The characters are inspired by Christopher Robin’s stuffed animals: Edward Bear, Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, and Tigger. Milne bought Christopher a stuffed bear for his first birthday in 1921 and Christopher named the bear Edward. The teddy bear was renamed “Winnie” (for Winnipeg, Canada) after a tame Canadian brown bear was given to the London zoo. “Pooh” was originally the name of a swan Christopher Robin met while on holiday with his family. In 1925, Milne and his wife, Dorothy, purchased a country home, Cotchford Farm, in Hartfield, East Sussex. The fictional Hundred Acre Wood, where the Pooh stories are set, is modeled after the 5,000-acre Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, located about 30 miles outside London. Milne described Ashdown Forest as “…that enchanted place on the top of the forest a little boy and his bear will always be playing.” The first chapter of Winnie-the-Pooh was adapted from Milne’s story, “The Wrong Sort of Bees,” which was first published in the London Evening News in 1925. The much-loved bear also appeared in Milne’s poem collections When We Were Young (1924) and Now We are Six (1927).
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