This was my son's favourite teddy for YEARS and I wanted to dust him off today because the 18th of January is officially Winnie the Pooh day! And I can't think of a more wonderful way to break up the cold monotony of January, than by celebrating Pooh, his friends and the wonderful Winnie-the-Pooh characters.
8 FUN FACTS ABOUT WINNIE-THE-POOH CHARACTERS:
1. Winnie was a real bear!
Winnie-the-Pooh was named after a teddy bear owned by A.A. Milne’s son, who was called Christopher Robin Milne. Christopher had named the bear after a real bear he used to visit in London Zoo.
2. Winnie was a girl!
Not Winnie-the-Pooh in the storybooks (!) but the bear, called Winnie, in London zoo was a female bear originally from Canada.
3. Piglet, Eeyore Kanga, Roo and Tigger were other toys owned by A.A. Milne’s son Christopher!
Though A.A. Milne created the Hundred Acre Wood characters of Owl and Rabbit, the other characters: Piglet Eyore, Kanga, Roo and Tigger were all beloved soft toys belonging to his son Christopher. The original toys can still be seen at the New York Public Library, with the exception of Roo, who was apparently lost by Christopher in the 1930s.
4. Who is Winnie-the-Pooh’s closest friend?
Most fans say that despite his many friends, Piglet and Christopher are Winnie the Pooh’s closest friends.
5. One character started off male but was changed to female...
Kanga was apparently originally a male character but was later changed to become the only female character.
6. Winnie-the-Pooh first appeared in 1924, not 1926
Winnie-the-Pooh first appeared in a one-off Christmas story in a London newspaper in 1924. The first collection of Winnie-the-Pooh stories wasn’t published until two years later in 1926.
7. Winnie the Pooh didn’t always have a red top
He was originally illustrated in black and white and didn’t appear in his famous red top until 1932.
8. A recent study suggests that each of the characters have a different mental health disorder.
Eyore has depression, Piglet Anxiety and Pooh, ADHD and OCD.
AND Here are my favourite quotes from the great philosopher:
1. “A day without a friend is like a pot without a single drop of honey left inside.”
2. "Some people care too much. I think it's called love.”
3. “You can't stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.”
4. “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”
5. “I wonder what Piglet is doing," thought Pooh.
"I wish I were there to be doing it, too.”
6. “I don’t feel very much like Pooh today," said Pooh.
"There there," said Piglet. "I’ll bring you tea and honey until you do.”
7. “Nobody can be uncheered with a balloon.”
8. “I think we dream so we don’t have to be apart for so long. If we’re in each other’s dreams, we can be together all the time.”
9. “If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you.”
10. “People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.”
11. “Piglet noticed that even though he had a very small heart, it could hold a rather large amount of gratitude.”
12. “It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like "What about lunch?”
13. “Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.”
14. “If the person you are talking to doesn't appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear.”
15. “It’s snowing still,” said Eeyore gloomily.
“So it is.”
“And freezing.”
“Is it?”
“Yes,” said Eeyore. “However,” he said, brightening up a little, “we haven’t had an earthquake lately.”
