What a lovely book....full of beautiful pictures and illustrations, along with the true story of the bear that became Winnie-the-Pooh and the man who donated her to the London Zoo.

Ms. Appleby has done a lot of research on Harry Colebourn, a Canadian veterinarian who purchased a black bear cub on his way overseas to fight in the First World War. He named the bear "Winnie" after his home town of Winnipeg. That much, I'd heard before. And, I'd read that A.A. Milne's son became enchanted by Winnie on visits to the London Zoo, where Winnie was awaiting Harry's return from battle. Ms. Appleby has given us a much deeper look at Harry and Winnie and how Winnie-the-Pooh came to be. ( )