One hundred years ago today, a small bear with very little brain walked into the world’s bookshops. Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne was published on October 14, 1926, with drawings by E. H. Shepard.
Children have been visiting the Hundred Acre Wood ever since. The story of how Winnie-the-Pooh got his name begins with a real bear and a soldier from Canada.
The Real Bear Behind ‘Winnie-The-Pooh’
In 1914, a Canadian army veterinarian named Harry Colebourn bought an orphaned black bear cub for $20 on his way to a training camp. He named her Winnie after Winnipeg, the city he called home, according to WDW News Today.
Yes, her. The original Winnie was a female bear. When Colebourn shipped out to France, he left her at the London Zoo, where she became a favorite with visitors.
One of those visitors was a little boy named Christopher Robin Milne. He loved her so much that he renamed his own teddy bear, which had been called Edward. The “Pooh” came from a swan he had met.
Winnie never returned to Canada. Although Colebourn had originally intended to bring her home after the war, she had become so popular with visitors that he donated her permanently to the London Zoo. According to the Zoological Society of London, Winnie was remarkably gentle and tame, allowing children to pet her and even eat from their hands. She lived at the zoo until her death in 1934, long enough to see the fictional bear named after her become a worldwide sensation. In 1995, the people of Manitoba presented the zoo with a statue honoring the beloved bear.
His father took it from there. Milne wrote the stories around his son’s nursery toys, and readers responded at once. The American publisher sold 150,000 copies before the end of that first year.
How The Bear Is Marking 100 Years
The toys that started it all now live in America. The New York Public Library is celebrating with an anniversary display of original illustrations, and visitors can see the real stuffed animals that inspired the books.
The collection received a rather royal addition for the centennial. In April 2026, Queen Camilla announced that she would give the New York Public Library a specially made Roo doll to accompany the original Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, and Tigger. Christopher Robin’s original Roo had been lost decades earlier, leaving one familiar member of the Hundred Acre Wood missing from the collection. The replacement was created by British toymaker Merrythought, making the gift a fitting tribute to the bear’s 100th anniversary.
A new story is arriving too. Publisher Farshore is releasing an authorized sequel called A Little Boy and His Bear, written by Jane Riordan and illustrated by Andrew Grey, License Global reports.
Many fans met Pooh through Disney, which released its first featurette, Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, in 1966. The studio is celebrating the centennial all year.
A century on, the appeal is simple. Pooh is kind to his friends and he is never in a hurry. That still sounds like a fine way to spend a day.