Who wrote Winnie the Pooh? The history of the birth of a favorite book

Who wrote Winnie the Pooh? A man who wanted to enter the history of English literature as a serious writer, but entered and remained as the creator of the hero, whom everyone knows from childhood - a bear from plush, with a head stuffed with sawdust. Alan Alexander Milne created a series of novels and poems about a toy bear, writing stories for his son, Christopher Robin, who also became the hero of the book.

Many of Milne's characters were given names, thanks to very real prototypes - toys of his son. Perhaps the most confusing is the story of Vinny himself. Winnipeg is the name of the bear, who lived in the London Zoo, Christopher's favorite. His son Milne led to the zoo in 1924, and three years before that, the boy received on the first birthday as a bear gift, until that epoch-making meeting of the nameless. He was called Teddy, as is customary in English-speaking countries. But after meeting with a live bear in her honor, the toy was called Vinni. Gradually, Vinnie had friends: a loving father bought new toys for his son, a piglet Piglet gave the boy neighbors. Such characters as Owl and Rabbit, the author thought up as the course of events in the book.

The first chapter of the story about the bear cub appeared on the eve of Christmas 1925. Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends stepped into life, which happily continues to this day. More precisely, about Vinnie Milne wrote two prosaic books and two collections of poems. Prose collections are dedicated to the writer's wife.

But the answer to the question of who wrote Winnie the Pooh, will be incomplete, if you do not mention one more name. Ernest Shepard, cartoonist of the magazine "Punch", like Milne, a veteran of the First World War. He became a real co-author of the writer, creating images of heroes-toys as they are represented by generations of children.

Why is the book about the toy bear and its friends so popular ? Probably because many of these stories, told one after another, resemble fairy tales that loving parents tell their children. Often such tales are simply invented for the night. Of course, not all parents have such a gift as Milne had, but this special atmosphere of the family, where the child is surrounded by love and care, is felt in every line of the book.

Another reason for this popularity is the amazing language of the fairy tale. The author of "Winnie the Pooh" plays and plays with words: here and puns, and parodies, including advertising, and funny phraseological units, and other philological delights. Therefore, the book is loved not only by children, but also by adults.

But again there is no definitive answer to the question of who wrote Winnie the Pooh. Because "Winnie the Pooh" - a magical book, it was translated by the best writers of different countries, considering it an honor to help small fellow citizens to get acquainted with the funny heroes of the fairy tale. For example, the poet's book was translated into Polish by the poet's sister Julian Tuwim Irene. There were several translations into Russian, but the text of Boris Zakhoder, which was published in 1960, became classic, and millions of Soviet children began to repeat the wails and chants following the bear cub of Vinny.

A separate story - the adaptation of a fairy tale. In the West, a series of the studio "Disney" is known, which, incidentally, was not very popular with the main character of the book - Christopher Robin. And the Soviet cartoon of Fyodor Khitruk with a stunning voice acting, where the heroes speak with the voices of E. Leonov, I. Savina, E. Garina, is still much more popular in the post-Soviet space.

The one who wrote "Winnie the Pooh", and could not get rid of the embrace of a teddy bear, but it was this book that brought him immortality.