Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear by Lindsay Mattick

Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear by Lindsay Mattick, illustrated by Sophie Blackall
Little, Brown & Company

Rating: 5 stars

Last year two books about the origin of Winnie-the-Pooh were published. I saw both at our local library but only selected one, Winnie: The True Story of the Bear Who Inspired Winnie-the-Pooh, to check out, read, and review. For whatever reason, it was only last week that I got around to checking out Finding Winnie. And it was only yesterday, the day after it won the Caldecott, that I got around to reading it.

I was truly blown away--mostly by Sophie Blackall's artwork, but also by the way this version of the story unraveled. Here's how it goes:

A little boy and his mother sit together. "Tell me a story, a true one, about a bear," the little boy requests. The mother obliges, and she starts this one:

"I've decided to name her Winnipeg, so we'll never be
far from home. Winnie, for short."

Once upon a time there was a soldier, a veterinarian-soldier, named Harry Colebourn, who traveled far from his home in Winnipeg to help in the war. He rode in a train with many men just like him. The train "rolled right through dinner and over the sunset and around ten o'clock and into a nap and out the next day" until it finally stopped at a train station in White River.

Harry got out to stretch his legs. While walking around, he saw a trapper and a bear cub. He knew the bear's fate was dark and the cub tugged at his heart. Harry bought him for $20, thus boarding a train with a bear cub that he argued would be his squad's mascot. The bear, quickly named Winnipeg, which was quickly shortened to Winnie, was a fun mascot and much-needed diversion from the reality of war. Harry and Winnie trained together, slept together, and even traveled across the Atlantic to England together to fight in the war.

But Harry realized a war would be too dangerous for a cub, so he gave Winnie up and signed her over to the London Zoo.

Thirty ships sailed together, carrying about 36,000 men, and
about 7,500 horses...and about one bear named Winnie.

"The story is over?" the boy asked.

His mother answered, in a great, wise, sentence I'll repeat for a long, long time: "Sometimes one story must end so another can begin."

Once upon a time there was a little boy with a stuffed teddy bear who needed a name. The boy and his father walked together to the London Zoo, where a real bear stood behind a gate. It was Winnie. The boy not only named his teddy after Winnie, calling the stuffed bear Winnie-the-Pooh, but he also played with real, yet tame, Winnie--going right inside the fenced yard!

The boy's name was Christopher Robin, and his father's name was Alan Alexander Milne. His father write many books about his son and the bear, books inspired by a real boy and a real bear.

Harry drove all the way to the Big City.

I loved Finding Winnie, then turned the page and was yet again surprised and impressed by it: The mother in the story is the author, and also the great-granddaughter of Harry Colebourne! The boy in the story is named after him--his name is Cole. A beautiful family tree illustrates the connection very clearly. The back pages of the book turn into an album that includes pictures of Harry as a young soldier, the journal in which he writes that he bought a bear, pictures of Winnie and her soldiers. Then, there are pictures of Christopher Robin, playing with Winnie, with his father looking on in the background.

This is a keeper of a book--a lovely reminder of many things. That acts of kindness often reap large, unseen rewards. That loving an animal is a worthwhile endeavor. That inspiration for stories can come from a single trip to the zoo. And my favorite, that sometimes one story must end for another to begin.

Congratulations to Lindsay Mattick and Sophie Blackall, for creating such a fantastic, gorgeous book! Congratulations to Sophie Blackall for winning the 2016 Caldecott!

The Baby Tree by Sophie Blackall

The Baby Tree by Sophie Blackall

Rating: 5 stars

It's an age-old question most parents dread: Where do babies come from?

Sophie Blackall takes a stab at answering this question, taking the load off our parental shoulders for a bit. This beautiful book is on many (most?) of the year-end "best book" lists, and there's a reason why: it's a sweet story with an important message, told with sweet words and incredible illustrations.

Here's the story (and a few illustrations to give you an idea of how great they are):

At breakfast, a little boy's parents break the news to him: there's a baby on the way! He's going to be a big brother. As he quietly eats his oatmeal while the hubbub of the morning swirls around him, he only has one thought: Where are we going to get the baby?

Teenage neighbor Olive answers his question as they walk to school: "You plant a seed, and it grows into a Baby Tree."

Hmm. He's not sure about that. He still wonders, so he takes his question to school.

Mrs. McClure the art teacher replies: "From the hospital."

Okay...he can picture a hospital, because his Grandpa had stuff removed (gall stones) there. But he's still unsure, so...

He asks Grandpa, who tells him: "A stork brings your baby in the night and leaves it in a bundle on your doorstep."

What??!!?

Everyone was right. Except for Grandpa.

Maybe the mailman can clear things up: "Babies come from eggs."

At the end of this long, confusing day, the boy asks his mom and dad where babies come from. The simple, succinct answer includes: "They begin with a seed from their dad...which gets planted in an egg inside their mom...the baby grows in there for nine months...until it runs out of room...and it's ready to be born."

So everyone was a little bit right. Except for Grandpa and that stork thing.

There's more information in the back about where babies come from, with recommendations on how to answer the question based on the age of your child. The information also includes twins and adoption and c-sections in very brief but still-honest ways.

This is a great book for many reasons: it's wonderful to look at, great to read aloud, and a fantastic teaching tool. What more can you expect from a book? (Please don't tell her, but we are giving this to Lorelei's teacher--she has a toddler at home and is expecting her second baby in January!)

Ruby's Wish by Shirin Yim Bridges

Ruby's Wish by Shirin Yim Bridges

Rating: 5 stars

I'm not a volunteer-for-everything sort of mom.  I have three kids in two different schools and one still home with me.  So, like all of you, my time is limited.  I must choose wisely.  Usually my choices involve Ben's preschool.  It is close, familiar, laid-back, and very known.

But last year at my first volunteer gig in Lorelei's class, I was still trying to figure out the names of her classmates.  I volunteered at the End-of-the-Year party.  Holy mommy demerits, Batman.  I was embarrassed.  I thought: Next year.  Next year, I'll be better.  And I have been!  I actually know, like, SIX of her classmates.  Or a few more.

After hearing that I have a children's book blog, Lorelei's bright, young teacher suggested I be in charge of the Scholastic book orders.  I said yes.  Every month I select a few books to highlight to parent as especially worth purchasing.  Perfect: I have yet another excuse to find a bunch of children's books!

Ruby's Wish was one of my selections for November.  The story is based in once-upon-a-time China in a magnificent home of a wealthy family.  An old man went to California for the Gold Rush, and returns to China very rich.  He promptly marries many wives and, slightly less promptly, has many children.  Some years later, those children have children, so his house is filled with many grandchildren.

Ruby is one of them.

So at one time, the house was filled with the shrieks
and laughter of over one hundred children.

Because he has so many grandchildren, the man hires a teacher and sets up a school in his own house.  Unlike outside his house gates, girls can study in his home school.  And Ruby does.  She is the brightest student: the most diligent, the most earnest, the most enthusiastic.  She has to do twice as much as the boys--while they only have schooling, the granddaughters in the house must also learn to cook and keep the house and sew.

One by one, the girls stop going to the classes.  All except Ruby.  She finally admits to her grandfather that she wants to go to university like the boys more than get married, like the girls.

On New Year's Day, all the grandchildren receive a thick red packet full of money.  But Ruby's red envelope is filled with something else: a letter from a university, saying that they would be proud to accept Ruby as one of their first female students.

It's a true story--Ruby is the author's grandmother.

This is children's nonfiction done really, really well.  The history and cultural differences are mind-stretching for a young American in a really, really good way.  There are many conversations that will easily spark from this story from a distinctly different place.

The past few weeks I've been struck by gratitude in a huge way.  And this book definitely provides an opportunity for kids like Lorelei to be oh-so-freaking grateful for the primo education they are receiving. And a reminder to appreciate that schooling by working hard and being enthusiastic and savoring it as much as a sweet six year old can.


P.S.  I just can't find a way to work into my text the beautiful illustrations by Sophie Blackall...a lame postscript will have to suffice.  We've not come across her work before but I'm about to order a few more books illustrated by her from the library.  She does this book, this story such justice with her soft but strong illustrations!  I am very impressed.