Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Ten Fascinating Facts about Winnie the Pooh


From Mental Floss, a series of interesting bits about everyone's favorite honey-loving bear.

Including...

All of the animals portrayed in the story were inspired by Christopher Robin Milne’s (A.A. Milne’s son) stuffed animals, except for two: Owl and Rabbit, whom Milne and illustrator Ernest Shepard created to round out the menagerie. Sadly, Christopher Robin lost the Roo stuffed animal (the baby kangaroo) in an apple orchard in the 1930s, so it’s not with the display of original plush dolls.

and...

Hundred-Acre Wood is a real place in England. It’s based on a place called Ashdown Forest in East Sussex. Many of the landmarks found in the Pooh books can be found there, including Poohsticks Bridget, Galleon’s Lap (called Gill’s Lap in real life), Roo’s Sandpit and Heffalump Trap. In fact, in 2001, a 10-year-old boy took the “fake” map drawn by Ernest Shepard and navigated his way around Ashdown Forest for a documentary.

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