{"id":28732,"date":"2016-01-22T00:31:13","date_gmt":"2016-01-22T04:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=28732"},"modified":"2016-01-22T00:33:25","modified_gmt":"2016-01-22T04:33:25","slug":"review-of-finding-winnie-by-lindsay-mattick-and-sophie-blackall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=28732","title":{"rendered":"Review of Finding Winnie, by Lindsay Mattick and Sophie Blackall"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"finding_winnie_large\"<\/a>Finding Winnie<\/p>\n

The True Story of the World\u2019s Most Famous Bear<\/em><\/p>\n

by Lindsay Mattick
\nillustrated by Sophie Blackall<\/p>\n

Little, Brown and Company, New York, 2015. 52 pages.
\nStarred Review
\n2016 Caldecott Medal<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d review a second book about the true story of the real bear after whom Winnie-the-Pooh was named. The first one I read<\/a> was complete and most delightful.<\/p>\n

But then I read Finding Winnie<\/em> and fell in love. In the first place, it\u2019s got Sophie Blackall\u2019s wonderful illustrations, which won me over quickly. But as well, the story is told with the frame of a mother telling the story to her son \u2013 and that son happens to be Cole, the great-great-grandson of Harry Colebourn, who bought the bear Winnie in Winnipeg on the way to World War I.<\/p>\n

Besides giving all the facts, there\u2019s a lilt to the storytelling and interruptions along the way by Cole, which are reminiscent of Christopher Robin\u2019s words at the start of Winnie-the-Pooh.<\/em><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s where Harry sees the bear cub at a train station:<\/p>\n

Harry thought for a long time. Then he said to himself, \u201cThere is something special about that Bear.\u201d He felt inside his pocket and said, \u201cI shouldn\u2019t.\u201d He paced back and forth and said, \u201cI can\u2019t.\u201d Then his heart made up his mind, and he walked up to the trapper and said, \u201cI\u2019ll give you twenty dollars for the bear.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIs twenty dollars a lot?\u201d asked Cole.
\n\u201cBack then?\u201d I said. \u201cEven more than a lot.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The photograph album at the back is especially charming. I like the picture of Harry\u2019s diary turned to the page for August 24, 1914, where it says, \u201cBought bear $20.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, after Harry\u2019s story, we hear about Christopher Robin Milne and his friendship with Winnie. But then Cole brings it back to Harry, and his mother tells him that Harry had a son named Fred, and Fred had a daughter named Laureen, and Laureen had a daughter named Lindsay.<\/p>\n

Framing it all as a story of a mother to her child is what sends it over the edge into wonderful.<\/p>\n

And then I<\/em> had a son.<\/p>\n

When I saw you, I thought, \u201cThere is something special about that Boy.\u201d So I named you after your great-great-grandfather: Captain Harry Colebourn.<\/p>\n

I named you Cole.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s me?\u201d said Cole in a whisper.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s Winnie?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d I said. \u201cThat\u2019s Winnie.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it\u2019s all true?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes the best stories are,\u201d I said.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sometimes they are.<\/p>\n

lindsaymattick.com<\/a>
\nsophieblackall.com<\/a>
\nlb-kids.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Childrens_Nonfiction\/finding_winnie.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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