An author from Manitoba is giving a new perspective on both Winnie the Bear and the First World War.
Winnie became famous after a Winnipeg solider, Harry Colebourn, bought her at a train station in Ontario while making his way to war in 1914. Winnie also went on the become the inspiration for the beloved Winnie the Pooh.
Colebourn’s great-granddaughter, Lindsay Mattick, has written a new book Winnie’s Great War which tells the story of the war from the bear’s point of view.
Her new novel is based off her previous book Finding Winnie.
“Winnie is a bear that goes on all kinds of adventures with the new book having a mix of fact and fiction. She meets new characters, like talking squirrels and a goat,” Mattick said.
“The entire story though is told through the backbone of my great grandfathers real 1914-1918 diaries of what happened and what he experienced during the war,” she added.
Mattick said she felt honoured to use accounts from her family to tell the story.
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“Looking at those diary entries and studying them for the last few years, was really an honour: to learn more about when my great grandfather took Winnie to the London Zoo; and realize some of the things he saw while at war. He witnessed 7,000 casualties while in Ypres… or being really sick while crossing the Atlantic Ocean,” Mattick said.
The book will be on store shelves Sept. 25. More information the publication be found here.
“It’s a book aimed for 8 to 12-year-olds with an in depth perspective of Winnie,” Mattick said.
WATCH: Author Lindsay Mattick discusses her new novel Winnie’s Great War
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