NOVEMBER 2018 - AudioFile
Kathleen McInerney narrates the expanded true story first revealed in the picture book FINDING WINNIE. Told from Winnie-the Pooh’s perspective as a cub, the story begins as he is orphaned and bought by a Canadian soldier. From there, he sails to Europe and finally comes to the English zoo where A.A. Milne, the author of WINNIE-THE-POOH, brought his son. McInerney performs the frame story of the soldier’s granddaughter telling her son about his bear. Her tender tone softens the harsher moments dealing with the cub’s mother dying and the trials of war. She moves back and forth from the playful voices of the animals that Winnie meets along the way and the considerate mother pausing the story to give context. McInerney finds a bittersweet balance between the animal fantasy and WWI. S.T.C. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
The New York Times Book Review - Catherine Hong
This fleshed-out Winnie is very much a reflection of Milne's Pooh—a naïve, openhearted creature with a great weakness for food and capacity for love…[Winnie's Great War] is a work of undeniable charm. This is distinctively old-fashioned, gentle storytelling that children will enjoy hearing read aloud. And the photographs of the real Winnie at the end of the book are the clincher—a reminder that real animals can be more enchanting than any we've imagined.
Publishers Weekly
06/04/2018
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.)
From the Publisher
"Oh my, how I love Winnie's Great War. Only the magical team who brought us Finding Winnie could have created this poignant and heartwarming novel. An incandescent celebration of friendship and courage, this perfect little book is one to cherish. A triumph."—Katherine Applegate, Newbery Award-winning author of The One and Only Ivan
"A work of undeniable charm. This is distinctively old-fashioned, gentle storytelling that children will enjoy reading aloud."—The New York Times Book Review
* "A heartwarming read-aloud."—School Library Journal, starred review
"A charming addition to Pooh lore that will send readers happily back to the Hundred-Acre Wood."—Kirkus Reviews
"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."—Publishers Weekly
Praise for Finding Winnie:A New York Times Notable Children's Book of the Year
Horn Book Fanfare
NYPL 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing
Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
Book Links Lasting Connections
Bookpage Best Book of the Year
* "The sum total is as captivating as it is informative, transforming a personal family story into something universally resonant."—Horn Book, starred review
* "Little ones who love Milne's classic stories will be enchanted by this heartening account of the bear's real-life origins."—Booklist, starred review
* "A perfect melding of beautiful art with soulful, imaginative writing, this lovely story, penned by Colebourn's great-granddaughter, is ideal for sharing aloud or poring over individually."—School Library Journal, starred review
* "The book strikes a lovely, understated tone of wonder and family pride...[Sophie Blackall] proves that she's equally imaginative at chronicling straight-on reality too."
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Gorgeously illustrated...[a] delightful telling."—New York Times Book Review
"[An] inspiring text...Blackall's breathtaking watercolor illustrations demand to be examined up close, and Winnie's face is as expressive as the humans'."—School Library Connection
Kallie George
The spirit of Winnie-the-Pooh is captured beautifully in this retelling of the real bear’s adventures.
Katherine Applegate
Oh my, how I love Winnie’s Great War. An incandescent celebration of friendship and courage, this perfect little book is one to cherish. A triumph.”
Canadian Children’s Book News
A buoyant, thoughtful narrative with strong themes of friendship, courage, loyalty and kindness. . . . This engaging little novel would make a wonderful read-aloud in the classroom or at bedtime.
Alice Kuipers
Moving and imaginative, this extraordinary story of the most beloved of bears is beautifully conceived. The blend of truth, history and story is whimsical, winning and wonderful. I loved reading Winnie’s Great War: it made me laugh and it made me cry.
School Library Journal
★ 09/01/2018
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
NOVEMBER 2018 - AudioFile
Kathleen McInerney narrates the expanded true story first revealed in the picture book FINDING WINNIE. Told from Winnie-the Pooh’s perspective as a cub, the story begins as he is orphaned and bought by a Canadian soldier. From there, he sails to Europe and finally comes to the English zoo where A.A. Milne, the author of WINNIE-THE-POOH, brought his son. McInerney performs the frame story of the soldier’s granddaughter telling her son about his bear. Her tender tone softens the harsher moments dealing with the cub’s mother dying and the trials of war. She moves back and forth from the playful voices of the animals that Winnie meets along the way and the considerate mother pausing the story to give context. McInerney finds a bittersweet balance between the animal fantasy and WWI. S.T.C. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
