Finding Winnie ✩✩✩✩✩

I love the cheery cover of Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear by Lindsay Mattick and Sophie Blackall. And there's a lot to love in the inside as well. The story begins unexpectedly with a modern-day mom reading to her son Cole. In the book she's reading, we are introduced to Harry Colebourn, a veterinarian who becomes a soldier during World War I. At a train station, Harry has a surprising encounter with a trader and a young bear, and he decides to take the bear with him. Eventually Harry must part with his beloved Winnie, and he leaves him in good hands at the London Zoo.

It is at the London Zoo that Winnie is discovered by A.A. Milne and his son, Christopher. The boy and bear relationship was the inspiration for the Winnie the Pooh books. That's part one of the story within a story. I don't want to give away the other happy twist at the end, so you will have to read the book to find out how everything comes full circle.

I have read this book to second and third graders and they all were totally engaged with the story. This book is wonderful for all ages, especially a child that is familiar with the Winnie-The-Pooh character, or has a cherished stuffed bear of their own. If your reader enjoyed this book, have them try Ivan the Shopping Mall Gorilla by Katherine Applegate, or Mrs. Harkness and the Panda by Alicia Potter.