A. A. Milne wrote the original Winnie-the-Pooh books that inspired the centenary celebrations.
Milne was an English author who transformed stories about his son’s toys into literary adventures set in the Hundred Acre Wood. The first story collection, Winnie-the-Pooh, appeared in 1926, followed by The House at Pooh Corner in 1928.
Milne’s writing combined short episodic adventures, playful word inventions, poems and a distinctive childlike narrative voice. Christopher Robin, Piglet, Eeyore, Rabbit, Owl, Kanga and Roo all became part of the enduring cast surrounding Pooh.
E. H. Shepard is often confused with Milne because Shepard’s drawings are inseparable from the books, but Shepard was the illustrator rather than the author. Milne also wrote the earlier poetry collections When We Were Very Young and Now We Are Six, which introduced related characters and themes before the Pooh story books.