The real Christopher Robin
And his friend, Winnie the Pooh.
Chris Wild
1924-1991
A. A. Milne had already made a name for himself as a writer and playwright when his son, Christopher Robin Milne, was born on Aug. 21, 1920. For his first birthday, Christopher Robin was given a two-foot-tall, cream-colored teddy bear who he named Edward. This bear, along with an actual bear at the London Zoo named Winnie and a swan named Pooh, became the basis for Milne’s classic children’s character, Winnie the Pooh.First mentioned in a poem in Punch magazine which was later published in Milne’s 1924 book of children’s verse When We Were Very Young, Winnie the Pooh was soon joined by Christopher Robin’s other beloved stuffed animals Tigger, Piglet, Eeyore and Kanga.
As a child, Christopher Robin was happy to have stories published about him and his animals. As he grew older and was teased by classmates, he began to resent his fame.He grew up to attend Cambridge and serve in the Royal Corps of Engineers in World War II.In 1948, he married his first cousin, Lesley de Selincourt, and opened a bookshop with her.Despite his discomfort with his notoriety, Christopher Robin ultimately accepted it during his efforts to protect Ashdown forest — the inspiration for the Hundred Acre Wood — from oil exploration. He happily dedicated monuments to his father’s stories as a means to preserve the forest.Christopher Robin Milne died in 1996 at the age of 75.
What became of Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore and Tigger? They moved to New York. Christopher Robin had given the original toys to the editor of the Pooh books, who in turn donated them to New York Public Library in 1987. They have been on display ever since.
