One snowy day, Winnie-the-Pooh meets a penguin in the snow-encrusted Hundred Acre Wood, and his circle of friends expands. This encounter is at the heart of Brian Sibley’s “Winter: in which Penguin arrives in the Forest,” one of four original stories collected in The Best Bear in All the World, to be published by Dutton on October 26, to commemorate the 90th anniversary of A.A. Milne’s iconic bear’s first appearance, in 1926’s Winnie-the-Pooh. Rounding out the volume’s quartet of seasonal tales are “Spring” by Jeanne Willis, “Summer” by Kate Saunders, and “Autumn” by Paul Bright, all illustrated by Mark Burgess in the style of E. H. Shepard.
The character of Penguin was inspired by a photograph of Milne and his son Christopher playing with a penguin toy that may well have been purchased by the boy’s mother, Daphne Milne, at the toy department of Harrods in London. Many of the characters Milne created were inspired by stuffed animals from this storied department store, including Pooh himself, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, and Tigger. Harrods archivist Sebastian Wormell observed that the toy penguin pictured in the photo “could be Squeak, which originated in our 1922 catalogue and came from ‘Pip, Squeak, and Wilfred,’ a popular comic strip at the time.”
Sibley explained that the title of the new story collection was pulled from Christopher Robin’s affectionate description of Pooh as “the Best Bear in All the World,” an assessment with which Sibley (who also wrote Three Cheers for Pooh, The Pooh Sketchbook, and The Pooh Book of Quotations) agrees.
“There is just one problem – there really aren’t enough Pooh stories!” he lamented. “For someone who has always loved Winnie-the-Pooh and company from his childhood, the idea of visiting the Hundred Acre Wood in search of a new story was wildly exciting – but also daunting. Milne’s effortless writing, especially in the Pooh books, at first seems highly imitable – until, that is, you attempt the imitation. But, for me, the challenge was more than just attempting to play A.A. Milne in his own literary game; I also wanted to find a way of successfully introducing a brand new character into Pooh’s world, whilst being sympathetic to the tone and style of the original books.”
Burgess, who also created the art for 2009’s Return to the Hundred Acre Wood by David Benedictus, the first authorized sequel to Winnie-the-Pooh, faced a similar challenge following in Shepard’s footsteps – but also discovered a liberation of sorts while illustrating the new story collection. “It’s always a pleasure to draw Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends,” he said. “I try to go for the spirit of Shepard’s drawings rather than slavishly copying. I love all the characters, but I did especially enjoy drawing Penguin. With a new character, I feel I’m not quite so much in Shepard’s shadow. I hope Penguin has some more adventures”
Andrew Karre, executive editor of Dutton Children’s Books, is also eager to welcome Penguin into the Hundred Acre Wood fold, and to introduce four new Pooh adventures. “Winnie-the-Pooh is one of the most beloved characters in children’s literature, and nowhere is he more beloved than at Dutton, where Pooh and his friends have long been part of our imprint’s identity,” he said. “We could not be more pleased to help grow the Pooh legacy and celebrate 90 years of whimsy and delight by publishing The Best Bear in All the World.”
