Winnie's Great War

by Lindsay Mattick (Author) Sophie Blackall (Illustrator)

Winnie's Great War
Reading Level: 4th − 5th Grade

From the creative team behind the bestselling, Caldecott Medal--winning Finding Winnie comes an extraordinary wartime adventure seen through the eyes of the world's most beloved bear.

Here is a heartwarming imagining of the real journey undertaken by the extraordinary bear who inspired Winnie-the-Pooh. From her early days with her mama in the Canadian forest, to her remarkable travels with the Veterinary Corps across the country and overseas, and all the way to the London Zoo where she met Christopher Robin Milne and inspired the creation of the world's most famous bear, Winnie is on a great war adventure.

This beautifully told story is a triumphant blending of deep research and magnificent imagination. Infused with Sophie Blackall's irresistible renderings of an endearing bear, the book is also woven through with entries from Captain Harry Colebourn's real wartime diaries and contains a selection of artifacts from the Colebourn Family Archives. The result is a one-of-a-kind exploration into the realities of war, the meaning of courage, and the indelible power of friendship, all told through the historic adventures of one extraordinary bear.

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Kirkus

A charming addition to Pooh lore that will send readers happily back to the Hundred-Acre Wood. 

Publishers Weekly

Expanding upon their Caldecott-winning picture book, 2015's Finding Winnie, Blackall and Mattick add Greenhut (the Flat Stanley series) to their team for this amplified tale of the bear who traveled from the Canadian woods across the Atlantic during World War I to the London Zoo, where she became the inspiration for Milne's Winnie the Pooh. Narrated by a descendant of Captain Harry Colebourn, who adopted Winnie, and told to Colebourn's great-great-grandson, the story focuses on Winnie's gentle, fun-loving nature and her devotion to Colebourn throughout their journey in wartime Europe. Brief excerpts from Colebourn's diaries ground the book in historical reality, while Winnie's relationships with horses and rats--even a Canadian infantry's billy goat--create a warm animal story. Winnie expresses herself in language throughout the narrative, but she communicates with Colebourn through expressions and movements (" 'I'm not getting in, ' Winnie said by lying down in the mud"). Well-detailed descriptions carry the reader along on the trip, and Colebourn and Winnie's strong friendship, rendered believably and movingly, is the emotional heart of the story. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8-12. Authors' agents: (for Mattick) Jackie Kaiser, Westwood Creative Artists; (for Greenhut) Kim Witherspoon, InkWell Management. Illustrator's agent: Nancy Gallt, Gallt and Zacker Literary Agency. (Sept.)

Copyright 2018 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

School Library Journal

Starred Review

Gr 3-5--Before Winnie became Winnie the Pooh, she was Winnipeg, a Canadian bear sold to Captain Harry Colebourn at the outset of the Great War. With her intelligence, wit, and bravery, Winnie became the unofficial mascot for Harry's Infantry Brigade, bolstering the morale of animals and soldiers alike in the Canadian Army Veterinary Corps. Written by Harry's great-granddaughter, this transporting book chronicles Winnie's extraordinary life and contributions to the war effort. Beginning sweetly with Winnie and her mother in the forests of Ontario, the narrative extends to Camp Valcartier, across the Atlantic, to Salisbury Plain, England. When at last the story winds its way to the London Zoo, readers encounter the burgeoning of a now-famous relationship between Winnie and a certain admiring young visitor, the son of author A.A. Milne, Christopher Robin Milne. Historical information is seamlessly interwoven with Winnie's touching personal tale of courage and friendship, with actual excerpts from Colebourn's war diaries interspersed. Occasional whimsical illustrations by Blackall add charm to a tale already sure to endear readers young and old. VERDICT A heartwarming read-aloud or a gentle independent reading escape, this is a must-have for elementary school collections.--Melissa Williams, Berwick Academy, ME

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

Praise for Finding Winnie A New York Times Notable Children's Book of the YearHorn Book FanfareNYPL 100 Titles for Reading and SharingPublishers Weekly Best Book of the YearBook Links Lasting ConnectionsBookpage Best Book of the Year
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780316447096
Lexile Measure
740
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date
October 08, 2019
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV016080 - Juvenile Fiction | Historical | Military & Wars
JUV002030 - Juvenile Fiction | Animals | Bears
JUV016180 - Juvenile Fiction | Historical | Canada - Post-Confederation (1867-)
Library of Congress categories
History
Great Britain
Winnipeg (Bear)
Bears
Winnie-the-Pooh
Voyages and travels
George V, 1910-1936
World War, 1914-1918
Canada
1914-1945

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