Представленный материал использовала для урока внеклассного чтения
Happy birthday, Winnie!
(to the 90th anniversary of the book)
1926–2016
This year the book “Winnie - the - Pooh” by A.Milne celebrates its 90th birthdays.
The book was published on the 14th of October in London in 1926. The author of the book was Alan Alexander Milne an English writer. He did not think that his readers would love his book so much, he just wanted to write something interesting for his only child Christopher Robin and that boy became the main character of the book.
For Robin’s 1st birthday his father bought him a teddy bear. That bear became his favourite toy. Christopher Robin had called his toy bear “Winnie” after a Canadian black bear that lived in London Zoo. He and his father used to go to the Zoo where he liked to play with that bear.
How that bear appeared in London?
The bear cub was bought from a hunter for $ 20 by Canadian officer Harry Colebourn while he was going to England during The First World War. The bear was named Winnie after his hometown Winnipeg. Harry Colebourn left Winnie at London Zoo while he and his unit were in France. The bear lived at London Zoo from 1915 till 1934. Now there are two monuments in London Zoo: to Canadian bear Winnie and to Canadian officer Harry Colebourn.
The toy bear Winnie and other Robin’s toys became the characters in Milne’s book. Ernst Sheppard illustrated the Pooh stories. Here you can see the first Sheppard’s illustrations to Milne’s book. At first Winnie and his friends were black – and - white.
The book and its main character Winnie - the – Pooh became more popular when
Walt Disney made cartoons. But Disney’s version had more characters and more stories.
In 1960 the book was translated in Russian by Boris Zakhoder and illustrated by Alice Poret. Then three 10minutes cartoons were made by Fyodor Khitruk.
Russian children loved that funny bear and his friends. These cartoons don’t lose their popularity nowadays.
In 2006 Winnie - the – Pooh received a Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles. It was a present for his 80th birthday.
In England there is a place which is called Pooh Country. Yes, Pooh Country is a reality.
. It is near a picturesque village of Hartfield near the wonderful Ashdown Forest. Here the Milnes had a country house. Little Robin spent a lot of time walking and playing with his toys in that forest. Alan Milne described that real forest in his book.
When Christopher Robin remembered his childhood he wrote “In that enchanted place on the top of the forest a little boy and his bear will always be playing”.
A lot of tourists come to visit the place where the famous book was born.
The main tourist attraction is a wooden bridge. It is the very bridge where Christopher Robin and Winnie - the – Pooh played “Poohsticks”. If you read the book you remember this game.
It is a simple sport. Each person drops a stick into the water on the one side of a bridge and quickly goes to the other side. The one whose stick appears first is a winner. It has become a tradition to play the game there using sticks gathered in nearby wood.
And one more interesting thing: nowadays this game is a great event in England - World Poohsticks Championship. It takes place on the river Thames in Oxfordshire once a year. Everybody can take part in these unusual competitions.
This year World Poohsticks Championship will be held on Sunday, 5th of June.
You can find all necessary information on the Internet. Go, take part and enjoy yourselves.
And read this wonderful book. It is based on reality: a real boy, real toys, real forest,a real game. At the same time it is a wise fairy tale which teaches us important things: kindness and friendship. While reading the book you find a lot of wise sayings. Children remember this one,
“A day without a friend is like a pot without a single drop of honey left inside”.
This book is worth reading.