Finding Winnie

Title: Finding Winnie The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear
Genre: Caldecott
Author Lindsay Mattick
Awards: Caldecott (2016)
Age Group: 6 to 8-year-olds

Teacher Evaluation: As a teacher, I would read this book as a read aloud to a first or second-grade class. I also think this book would be a great book to recommend to parents of children who like bears or more specifically Winnie-the-Pooh. The illustrations throughout this book are complementary to the story and will help the students visualize the story.

Summary: This book is a story within a story about the bear that inspired Winnie-the-Pooh. The book begins with a young boy and his mother, the young boy asks for his mom to tell him a bedtime story that's true and about a bear. The mother begins to tell the story the boy asked for, first by describing a man named Harry who was a veterinarian. Harry cared for animals in Winnipeg, but Harry was needed in a war to care for the soldiers' horses so he had to leave his home. While stopped at a train station, Harry noticed a man there with a bear cub. Harry couldn't help but buy the bear cub from the man to make sure it was properly taken care of. Harry's Colonel was at first hesitant to Harry bringing the bear cub with them into war. When the Colonel tried to understand Harry's reasoning for bringing the bear cub along with them, the bear cub stood on its hind legs and Harry introduced her as Winnipeg. Harry named her after his hometown so he is never far from home. The colonel and the men in Harry's regiment saw how special Winnipeg was and accepted her as one of them. Winnipeg became part of the army, she had her own post and was used as a navigator. As time passed, Harry realized something that there was something he needed to do for Winnipeg. Harry and Winnipeg went to the London Zoo where Harry explained to his bear Winnipeg that he knows she wants to go with him but it would be better for her to stay. Harry tells Winnipeg he will always love her and she will always be his bear. The story of Harry and Winnipeg ends there but the mother continues to tell how that story carried on. The book ends talking about a young boy named Christopher Robin who bonded with Winnipeg at the London Zoo and inspired the Winnie-the-Pooh people know of today.