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A.A. Milne
Full Name: Alan Alexander Milne
Born: January 18, 1882
Place of Birth: England
Parents: John Vine and Sarah Maria Milne
Siblings: David Barret Milne and Kenneth John Milne
Schools: First at Henley House, then at Westminster School, and then Cambridge on a mathematics scholarship.
Married: Dorothy de Selincourt in 1913
Children: Christopher Robin Milne, Born on August 21,1920 and died April 1996
Plays: Mr. Pim Passes By, Belinda, The Lucky One, The Romantic Age, The Dover Road, The Truth About Bladys, Toad of Toad Hall, The Ivory Door and many others.
Books: When We Were Very Young (1918), Winnie the Pooh (1926), The House at Pooh Corner (1928), Now We Are Six, Four Days Wonder, Chloe Marr, Year In, Year Out and many others.
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A.A. Milne started to write a series of books about Winnie the Pooh, his son Christopher Robin, and their friends in the 100-Acre-Wood. These other characters, such as Eeyore, Piglet, Tigger, Kanga and Roo were also based on stuffed animals belonging to Christopher Robin. The characters, Rabbit and Owl, were based on animals that lived, like the swan Pooh, in the surrounding area of Milne's country home, Cotchford Farm in Ashdown.
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THE MAN WHO DREW WINNIE-THE-POOH
Ernest H. Shepard was born in 1879 in London. His father was an architect and his mother, who died when he was ten years old, was the daughter of a notable watercolorist. It was she who first encouraged young Ernest to paint and draw. Art became Ernest's passion, and after attending Heatherly's Art School and the Royal Academy Schools, Shepard supported himself by drawing for the illustrated papers and by illustrating books.
In 1903, Shepard married Florence Chaplin. Florence was a painter and student at the Academy. The Shepards had two children: Graham, who was killed in World War II, and Mary, who later illustrated Mary L. Traver's Mary Poppins books.
When World War I broke out, Shepard served in France, Belgium, and Italy, attaining the rank of Major. On his return to England, he continued with his art. He became a regular contributor to Punch, where he met A.A. Milne, a man who was to be instrumental to his career. Shepard was elected to the editorial board of PUNCH, and shortly thereafter, he agreed to do the illustrations for Milne's first book of verse, When we were very young.
The illustrations that Shepard created for all four of the Pooh books received worldwide acclaim. For the next thirty years, he continued to illustrate books for both adults and children. In 1973, for the first time, he added color to his drawings for Winnie-the-Pooh. Shepard ultimately donated several hundred drawings to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Ernest H. Shepard continued to pursue his love of drawing until his death in 1976.
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Christopher Robin and Mom
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