The Return of Winnie the Pooh

Posted on January 9, 2009

The first authorized sequel to Winnie the Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne will appear on bookshelves next October. David Benedictus has been selected to write Return to the Hundred Acre Wood.

The author is David Benedictus, who formerly produced two successful audiobooks based on Mr. Milne's two famous children's titles. The work, illustrated by Mark Burgess, is being published in the U.S. by Dutton Children's Books, an imprint of Pearson PLC's Penguin Young Readers Group (USA).
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In an interview, Michael Brown, a trustee for the Pooh Properties Trust, noted that "Return to the Hundred Acre Wood" will be the first authorized sequel. Mr. Brown works closely with the E.H. Shepard Estate. Mr. Shepard was the original illustrator of the Pooh titles.
"Why now? There was no magic in the date," said Mr. Brown. "It's been on my mind for a while. We thought David had a wonderful feel for the material. No doubt some will say it's not as good as the original, but it's very good, and we're pleased with it."

Milne's collection of Pooh stories was first published in 1926, but Pooh is as popular today as he was when he was first introduced. There's a lot of pressure on David Benedictus to get this one right. No one wants to be the author that ruined Pooh.