A.A. Milne: The Wisdom of Winnie the Pooh

There's a safe place to be found in the Hundred Acre Wood, and comfort for children and adults alike

The characters from "Winnie the Pooh" are among the most recognizable of any children's books ever written. MovieStillsDB

Every adult knows that the world is a scary place. We try to shield our children in a safe environment that allows them to develop the confidence and assurance to, one day, confront this scariness. Children that lack this nurturing atmosphere sadly tend to learn maladaptive ways of dealing with the world.

Less obvious is that adults, too, sometimes need to experience the nostalgia of childhood to prevent being overwhelmed by cares and anxieties. Often, the best way to do this is by sharing the experience of an imaginary world with one’s own child. And there’s one author, more than any other, who captures the essence of both childhood hope and grown-up wistfulness.

The Birth of Pooh

Alan Alexander Milne was born in 1882 in England. He grew up in a boarding school, Henley House, that was run by his father; one of Milne’s teachers was famous science fiction writer H.G. Wells. He found his first literary success as a humorist for Punch magazine before enlisting in World War I, during which he witnessed firsthand the horrors of the Somme. Although he had always been opposed to war, he became an ardent pacifist upon returning to Britain. After attaining prominence as a playwright, he achieved immortality when he turned his hand to children’s literature.

Next year will mark the 100th anniversary of when Milne published “When We Were Very Young,” the book of poetry that introduced the world to Christopher Robin. Only four poems in the collection are actually about him, while only one poem, “Teddy Bear,” hints at what would later become one of the most famous creations in all of children’s literature:

A bear, however hard he tries,

Grows tubby without exercise.

Our Teddy Bear is short and fat,

Which is not to be wondered at;

He gets what exercise he can

By falling off the ottoman,

But generally seems to lack

The energy to clamber back. Those who know anything about the life of Milne probably know that the characters were based on his own son, Christopher Robin, and the toys in his nursery. In physical appearance, Winnie the Pooh was based on the teddy bear of the son of the books’ illustrator, E.H. Shepard. In habit, however, it was the teddy bear the young Christopher took everywhere with him. The names “Winnie” and “Pooh” were taken, respectively, from a black bear at the London Zoo and a swan in Sussex, both of which Christopher was fond of.

“When We Were Very Young” was an instant bestseller, taking Milne’s publisher by surprise. It was immediately recognized as the most important work of children’s literature since “Alice in Wonderland.” Three more books followed: another book of verse, “Now We Are Six,” and two prose collections, “Winnie-the-Pooh” and “The House at Pooh Corner.”

Analyzing Pooh

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Academic criticism has sought to “explain” Pooh through the lenses of every conceivable paradigm: Freudian, Marxist, Feminist, Taoist, and more. Milne’s biographer, Ann Thwaite, summarized some of these theories: Chasing honey represents sexual cravings or the crass competition of the free market, Heffalumps are symbols of colonialism, and the Hundred Acre Wood is an anti-patriarchal paradise (“A.A. Milne: The Man Behind Winnie-The-Pooh,” Random House: New York, 1990). They’re classic examples of reading into the text what you want to see. No other authorial creation of modern times has been subjected to such a mountain of conjectural baloney (although the “Tao of Pooh,” the most successful of these publications, has merit in the moral lessons it draws).

Since, all things being equal, the simplest explanation tends to be the right one, we can take the stories at face value for what they overtly depict: kindness, cooperation, freedom from constraints, and the spirit of adventure. The characters represent universal personality types: the neurotic Eeyore, the timid Piglet, the intellectually arrogant Owl, the zany outgoing Tigger, the bossy Rabbit, and the brainless Pooh. Their faults make them lovable, and their attempts to overcome them avoid caricature. There’s often an imaginary monster—Heffalump, Jagular, Backson—that catalyzes a quest, forcing everyone to face their limitations. In the process, Piglet must demonstrate bravery, Rabbit realizes he can’t control everything, and Owl’s pretensions are deflated. Pooh often speaks in rhymes and riddles, employing a strange dream logic that, while it gets him into trouble, expresses a deeper wisdom about how things should be.

Just when it seems that the group of animals is facing the end, Christopher Robin arrives to rescue them. It’s Christopher Robin who plays the role of the responsible parent, making sure no harm comes to anyone and explaining how the world works. In Chapter 8 of “Winnie-the-Pooh,” he announces that they’re going on an expedition:

“We’re going to discover the North Pole.”

“Oh!” said Pooh again. “What is the North Pole?” he asked.

“It’s just a thing you discover,” said Christopher Robin carelessly, not being quite sure himself.

“Oh! I see,” said Pooh. “Are bears any good at discovering it?”

“Of course they are!” After gathering everyone for the search, Pooh finds a long pole to help Roo out of a pool he had fallen in. Then they stick the pole in the ground. Christopher Robin ties a sign to it, convincing everyone that it’s the North Pole and that Pooh discovered it. The story demonstrates both the importance of helping others and the need to give children reassuring answers to life’s questions. Even when Christopher Robin is fallible (as all parents are), the animals find emotional comfort in accepting his explanations. He’s the ideal responsible authority figure.

The Afterlife of Pooh

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Even after the series made him a wealthy international celebrity, Milne didn’t change his modest lifestyle. He also refused to keep going after the fourth book. He wanted to be known as a playwright and serious novelist, not a children’s author. In his later years, he took pains to distance himself from the Pooh books, going so far as to state that he didn’t like children. His son, Christopher Robin Milne, confirmed this in his own autobiography, where he described a childhood very different from the one portrayed in the Hundred Acre Wood.

Whether Milne liked children or was good with his own, it’s certainly the case that he understood them in a way that few adults ever have. Even more than capturing a child’s mindset, he understood the adult need for fond memories. The “Pooh” books were devoured by presidents, royalty, and business leaders—every grown-up, high and low, saw something of their own early lives in the Hundred Acre Wood, where imagination is safe to roam. Although Milne’s plays, novels, and other writings are long out of print, Winnie the Pooh will likely endure for as long as humanity does.

The closing sentence of “The House at Pooh Corner,” the final book in the series, remains an apt expression of Milne’s legacy.

“Wherever they go and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top of the Forest, a little boy and his Bear will always be playing.”