It's easy to forget that long before Winnie the Pooh became the center of a Disney brand with movies, series, games, clothes, dolls, toys, accessories and much, much more, there were "just" books, set in the Hundred Acre Wood and starring the teddy bear known as Winnie the Pooh. Written by A.A. Milne and illustrated by E.H. Shepard, the first of the books was Winnie-the-Pooh, which appeared in 1926 and introduced Winnie, Piglet, Eeyore, Owl, Rabbit, Kanga, Roo and Christopher Robin, the human based on Milne's son who inspired the stories. In the book's sequel, The House at Pooh Corner, Tigger joined them. Those books were followed by Now We Are Six; in addition, a poem about Winnie the Pooh appeared in Milne's verse collection When We Were Very Young. The Pooh titles quickly were translated and published around the world, delighting generations of readers with their simple, wise, amusing, lyrical tales. A Latin translation of Winnie-the-Pooh, Winnie ille Pu, done by Alexander Lenard, is the only book in Latin to appear on the New York Times bestseller lists. There are, of course, many editions of the Pooh titles available, but Dutton Books for Young Readers offers a replica of the first U.S. edition of Winnie-the-Pooh ($16, 9780525555315) as well as a more modern version ($14.99, 9780525444435), both of which feature Shepard's classic illustrations.
