Winnie the Pooh Day!

“If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together.. there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart.. i'll always be with you.”

So I found out that today is officially Winnie the Pooh day in celebration of the creator A.A. Milne's birthday. I have many memories of Winnie the Pooh from when I was a child. My mom had some old copies of the books, with beautiful old illustrations. I remember also at one point Petro Canada would give out little Winnie the Pooh books when you bought a certain amount of gas (which is kind of strange when you think about it).

A.A. Milne based the characters on his son's (Christopher Robin Milne) stuffed animal toys. Christopher named his stuffed toy after a Canadian bear that he saw in the London Zoo in England. The bear was named Winnie, after his owner's home town Winnipeg (the story of which was featured in a Canadian Heritage Moment commercial which was on tv in the 90s). The "Pooh" came from a swan that Milne and his son saw while on holiday. And hence, the names were combined and the famous character of Winnie the Pooh was born!

I think one of the most charming aspects of the book series and the characters is the aspect of friendship.  Even as a kid, I understood the loyalty and love that existed between Pooh and Christopher Robin (even when Pooh messed up, which was often):

Below I've posted some vintage Pooh pictures. Enjoy celebrating Winnie the Pooh day!

This is what my copies looked like when  I was a kid.