Finding Winnie, in addition to winning a Caldecott, was beautifully and movingly written. Winnie’s Great War shares some of that, but this 240-page Talking Animal book didn’t feel as if it added to Finding Winnie, maybe because of Blackall’s reduced role, maybe because Finding Winnie was everything it needed to be, which isn’t a too-precious anthropomorphized animal story and fictionalized history.

Winnie’s Great War is the story of Winnie the Pooh told by the great great grandson of Lt Harry Colebourn, the man who found a lone bear cub. In the middle of the Woods was a tree, and at the bottom of the tree was a hole, and out of the hole poked a big black pad of a nose, which sniffed the air to see whether anyone was around.Beginning in Winnipeg, traveling across Canada to England this is an endearing story of the famous bear beloved by many. I’ll confess to not knowing his story - weird ri...

A war story can’t really be delightful but this is as close as one can get. This novel tells the back story of Christopher Robin Milne’s beloved Winnie (short for Winnipeg)—he added the “Pooh”. She was the little brown bear, adopted by a Canadian Regimental soldier, who became the regiment’s mascot, travelled across the Atlantic Ocean to England, and ended up at the London Zoo for safe keeping. Mattick’s story within a story mirrors the cadence and endearing storytelling of the Winnie-the-Pooh b...

The theme of Winnie's Great War is always be accepting to every one and don't think you can't be friends with anyone who is different from you. For example Winnie keeps an open heart at the beginning so he can talk with the squirrels and they end up treating him like a daughter. another reason is that throughout the story Winnie is always making peoples day and helping them every way she can so every one calls her my bear or the rat calls her my rat. A final reason is that Winnie makes the rats

Love this MG version of the Caldecott winner about the bear Winnie the Pooh is based on. Contains the some of the same darling illustrations, easy to read chapters. Love how Winnipeg can talk to other animals, the loving relationship with his mom and then his Calvary friends. Extra love for the Gaspe peninsula on the map - I’ve been there.

3.5 stars purely for the family archive of photos in the back. I never get tired of seeing pictures of the real Winnie with her soldiers. :)

Unfortunately, this book just did not work out well for us. (I was reading it aloud to my kids.) I really disliked the format of the story within the story and the anamorphic animals did not work. It was just ludicrous. (Example: Horses rearing to go fight in the war and they think anyone who doesn't want to fight is a coward? Really?) We gave up at page 73, flipped ahead to read where Christopher Robin Milne met Winnie, which consisted of a measly 3 pages, and looked through the photos in the b...

I fell in love with the cover first and then with the story of Winnipeg, the bear who inspired Winnie the Pooh. This book begins when Winnie was yet to be named and lives with her mother in the forest. Before dying the mother bear admonishes Winnie to be brave. As we see Winnie's story we see her not only being brave, but rising above her circumstances to make others around her feel better. What a beautiful goal to have in life. Thank you for that lesson, Winnie!I received a digital ARC of this

Sweet WWI story based on real events. I loved sharing the back story about the real bear that Winnie-the-Pooh was named after. I didn’t like the overly complicated narrative style of journal, story, and asides to the narrator’s son. It could have been better without the asides and a strong author’s note instead. Read aloud to my kids as part of our WWI study.

Great story about the origin of Winnie-the-Pooh, and with general first knowledge of the First World War for young readers. Clever writing to tell the story from the bear cub's perspective, interspersed with the thorough diary entries of the Canadian veterinarian who saved the cub after her mother was killed and took her on the journey to war in Europe. This kind veterinarian's great great granddaughter is the talented writer who so eloquently tells the story of soldier, bear cub, Christopher Ro...

Wonderful!!! I loved the expanded chapter book story of the original Winnie the Bear. It also gave an excellent look at World War I for children. Highly recommend!! (Library)

My 11 year old and I loved this story so much. It was an excellent deeper dive into Finding Winnie, and made an even better read directly after listening to Winnie the Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner audiobooks. Winnie’s Great War is a story that begs to be read aloud as it’s written in the format of The Princess Bride (movie at least, I haven’t read the book) with the mother recalling Winnie’s story to her son. The oral narration aspect gives off the coziest bedtime story vibes and we loved t...

This is going to hit extremely well with the target audience of grandmas. It does a good job of pumping a lot of real events and history into an extremely cute story about Winnie, the real (Canadian) black bear who inspired Milne to write Winnie-the-Pooh. (Winnie was named after Winnipeg!)What rubbed me the wrong way was the framing device of the adult speaking to a child about "your bear" Winnie. I know it is an homage to the original stories, but it was very stilted, convoluted for young reade...

I loved the picture book about Winnie and enjoyed that there is a historical fiction chapter book for a younger audience as well. This was told from Winnie’s perspective, which wasn’t what I expected, but I see how it would work for younger readers. This would be a great read aloud, and I know a second grade class right now that is loving it. Even though I have this only three stars, I found myself surprised at the tears I shed at the end.

I think it’s pretty cool that the fans of Finding Winnie will have a middle grade novel to read this fall. This story sets to fill in the holes for the readers - and young Cole - of what happened to our heroine, Winnie from when she first met Harry to when he brings her to the zoo.* review copy from edelweiss

This was so very beautiful!The inspiration to Winnie the Pooh was Winnipeg the bear from a British zoo. The background to that bear's story is what this book is, as well as the focus on the family of the man who owned the bear. It is really well written, has a touching tale throughout it, and really puts you in a mode of what life for a real sweet bear was like. I read this to my husband (who picked it out) and sons and we all adored it! Totally worth the read for those who love the Winnie the P...

Children's "easy" book on how Winnie the Pooh came to be.Lindsay Mattick is the great-granddaughter of Harry Colebourn, who "rescued" Winnipeg Winnie at a train station on Dec. 9, 1914. With family photos and papers from her great-grand father, Lindsay has written a delightful story around Winnie and Lt. Harry Colebourn as his Canadian unit travels to England to take part in the Great War.The story starts in the forest not far from Winnipeg - Winnie is just a cub, and is able to "talk" to all th...

First sentence: "Do you want to hear the story of your Bear?" I asked Cole one night while sitting on his bed.Premise/plot: Winnie The Pooh by A.A. Milne was inspired by Christopher Robin Milne's love a real bear, Winnipeg, in the London Zoo. Lindsay Mattick and Josh Greenhut offer readers an imaginative glimpse into Winnipeg's life. Her story begins in a Canadian forest and ends in a London zoo. Along the way she makes many, many friends: some animal friends (squirrels, horses, a rat) and human...

Brb. Going to get the Winnie-the-Pooh tattoo I've wanted since childhood.

Have you ever wondered how the most beloved children's book character, Winnie the Pooh, came to be? She was an actual bear from Winnipeg, Canada who was adopted by a WWI veterinary soldier named Henry Colebourn. This sweet and very biographical tale is told from the author's POV, who happens to be the great-granddaughter of Colebourn. A wonderful companion story to Mattick's first picture book Finding Winnie.