Winnie the Pooh Turns 90

Pooh turns 90 today. The original book, Winnie the Pooh, written by A.A. Milne and illustrated by E.H. Shepard, was published in 1926.

At first, Milne was not keen to have Shepard illustrate his Pooh stories, and he gave detailed instructions to the illustrator about what he expected in the pictures.



Shepard approached the challenge with considerable academic training under his belt, and he was an accomplished Punch cartoonist.

When he undertook to illustrate Milne's world, he traveled to Ashdown Forest to sketch the Sussex countryside that had inspired the stories. The relationship between author and illustrator was cordial and formal, but the two men were never close friends.

Late in life, Ernest Shepard gave 300 of his Pooh drawings to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
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Quotes from the art book Work of E.H. Shepard

Previously: E.H. Shepard's Academic Studies
E.H. Shepard's WWI Illustrations
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