Winnie’s Great War

by Lindsay Mattick & Josh Greenhut and illustrated by Sophie Blackall

“Winnie’s Great War” by Lindsay Mattick & Josh Greenhut and illustrated by Sophie Blackall. Published by Hachette. An astonishing and remarkable story based on true events of a brave bear cub in WWI who inspired the creation of Winnie the Pooh.

This incredible story is narrated by the author Lindsay Mattick to her son Cole. She is the great granddaughter of Captain Harry Colebourn. Harry was a veterinary doctor who was part of the Canadian second infantry brigade during World War I. He rescued an orphaned bear cub in White River railway station in Canada and named her Winnipeg after his hometown. She came to be called as Winnie in short.

Winnie’s mother had been killed by a trapper and she was kept at his home by his grandson who wanted to have her as a pet. But the trapper and his wife wanted to get rid of Winnie. The trapper would have harmed her in all probability if not for Harry offering to pay a princely sum of 20$ for her. She quickly captured Harry’s heart and the other soldiers. She became their lucky mascot.

Winnie accompanied the brigade throughout their journey from White River to Valcartier camp by train and the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean to Salisbury Plains in Britain. She was then left at the London Zoo when the brigade was at the front. Years later, Winnie met a little boy called Christopher Robin whose father was A A Milne. And the rest as we all know is history. One of the favourite characters of all time was created!

Winnie was different from all other animals as she didn’t like to fight or hurt anyone. She wanted to be friends with everyone. She could communicate well with all other animals. She liked making everyone feel better. Her duty during the WWI was to lift the morale of the soldiers. Wherever she went, she realised the need for peace and friendship. She exhibited immense courage. She had come a long way from being a cub in the woods, losing her mama, living in a trappers cabin, taking the train journey from White River to Valcartier camp, crossing the Atlantic in a ship, living in the camp at Salisbury Plains to living in London Zoo.

Everyone who had known Winnie, even briefly, considered her to be their bear for always. From squirrels in the woods to a rat in the ship to the horses in the army to a billy goat. The bonding between Winnie and Harry in particular is so adorable and heartwarming. There are photographs of Harry and Winnie as well as some memorabilia from Harry’s collection. Harry maintained a diary which would have helped in coming up with this book.

My 7.5 year old loved the book. This was his first “big” book and he now wants to read it again. I had put this one in our wish list and been wondering if I bought it a tad too early. But I am glad we did read this book now. We took a week to read this every night at bedtime. He also wants me to get him the complete unabridged Winnie the Pooh collection now. The same story is also available as a picture book called “Finding Winnie” by the same author for younger children.

Recommended Age

This book is apt for children aged 7/8+ and maybe 9+ for self reading.