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xxpumpkincatxx's review against another edition
4.0
I would be lying if I said this book didn't make me cry.
margeryb's review against another edition
5.0
I read a lot of picture books in my day-to-day work as a librarian that I do not record on here, but this was a particularly wonderful little book that I needed to write about it.
This is a quick recount of the true story behind Winnie the Pooh, both the bear cub named Winnie and the teddy bear that got named Winnie by a little boy named Christopher Robin who saw the real Winnie in the London Zoo. These two stories are encased in a framing story of a mother telling this story of a bear to her son as a bed time story, a mother who is a version of the author, the great great granddaughter of Captain Harry Coleman, the man who adopted the bear cub Winnie before later placing him in the London Zoo. This framing device is particularly wonderful because she uses little interruptions in the tale, like her son's questions about what certain words mean, to explain that to the reader, in a way that might naturally happen when an adult is reading to a child and needs to stop and explain this.
It might be because a *certain time of month* is pending, but I got teary-eyed at the end. This line (“Sometimes,' I said, 'you have to let one story end so the next one can begin.''How do you know when that will happen?''You don't,' I said. 'Which is why you should always carry on.”) sounded so much like something that would be in an actual Winnie the Pooh story, it gave me some childhood nostalgia, because it was always those little insights made Winnie the Pooh stories so interesting to me as a child.
This is a quick recount of the true story behind Winnie the Pooh, both the bear cub named Winnie and the teddy bear that got named Winnie by a little boy named Christopher Robin who saw the real Winnie in the London Zoo. These two stories are encased in a framing story of a mother telling this story of a bear to her son as a bed time story, a mother who is a version of the author, the great great granddaughter of Captain Harry Coleman, the man who adopted the bear cub Winnie before later placing him in the London Zoo. This framing device is particularly wonderful because she uses little interruptions in the tale, like her son's questions about what certain words mean, to explain that to the reader, in a way that might naturally happen when an adult is reading to a child and needs to stop and explain this.
It might be because a *certain time of month* is pending, but I got teary-eyed at the end. This line (“Sometimes,' I said, 'you have to let one story end so the next one can begin.''How do you know when that will happen?''You don't,' I said. 'Which is why you should always carry on.”) sounded so much like something that would be in an actual Winnie the Pooh story, it gave me some childhood nostalgia, because it was always those little insights made Winnie the Pooh stories so interesting to me as a child.
jcpdiesel21's review against another edition
5.0
Utterly charming with lovely illustrations featured throughout; it was a treat to discover the true story of the bear who inspired Winnie-the-Pooh. Mattick does an amazing job meshing the experiences of Henry Colebourn and A.A. Milne to tell one overarching tale framed by her own personal ties to it.
internationalkris's review against another edition
5.0
As a school librarian, I've now read this book to all my 2nd, 3rd and 4th graders. They loved it! Finding Winnie tells us 2 true stories, firstly veterinarian Henry Coleburn's story of discovering young Winnie on a train platform as he was heading off to WWI and the months that they spend together. Then later A.A. Milne's story of finding Winnie and the special relationship that she struck up with his son Christopher. I didn't try this one with my first graders since it is fairly long and complex though I would certainly share it with a younger child in a one-on-one or group setting. The 2nd-4th kids were completely engrossed in the tale and there were a lot of opportunities for learning as we talked a bit about WWI and other events. A very tender and also thought-provoking remembrance with gorgeously detailed pictures as you would imagine from a Caldecott winner.
writethruchaos's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
slow-paced
5.0
susannaopal's review against another edition
5.0
Remarkably darling. I gave this as a gift to a dear friend's child, who I hope will enjoy it as much as I did, if not more.