Did You Know? Winnie-the-Pooh

Since I had a chance to interview Winnie-the-Pooh this week, I thought it would be fun to see what kind of interesting facts I could find about the book Winnie-the-Pooh and its author, A.A. Milne. Here's what I found.

Did you know...

• Milne named Christopher Robin after his son, Christopher Robin Milne?
• Christopher Robin Milne's stuffed bear was named Edward was renamed Winnie-the-Pooh after a black bear named Winnie, which was used as a military mascot in World War I? "The pooh" comes from a swan called "Pooh".
•  E. H. Shepard illustrated the original Pooh books, using his own son's teddy, Growler as the model? 
• The rest of Christopher Robin Milne's toys, Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Owl, Rabbit and Tigger, were written into A. A. Milne's stories and are now displayed at what used to be the main branch of the NNew York Public Library?
• The Hundred Acre Wood where the Pooh stories take place is based on the Five Hundred Acre Wood in Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, South East England?
• One of A. A. Milne's teachers was H. G. Wells?
• Milne was one of Britain's first film writers? He wrote a series of four films in 1920?
• Milne also wrote a play based on Kenneth Grahame's novel The Wind in the Willows called Toad of Toad Hall?
• In 2008, a collection of original illustrations featuring Winnie-the-Pooh and his animal friends sold for more than £1.2m at auction in Sotheby's, London