A prolific writer, A. A. Milne published 35 plays, 6 novels, 3 books of verse, 3 collections of short stories, and several works of nonfiction, including sketches for Punch magazine, of which he was the assistant editor. Nevertheless, his fame rests on four books for children: two of whimsical stories about the stuffed animals in his son's bedroom (Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner) and two of verse (When We Were Very Young and Now We Are Six). All are considered classics and have been included among the Children's Literature Association's Touchstone books as the best in children's literature, on the Lewis Carroll Shelf list, and on the Choice magazine list of books for the academic library. He also wrote Toad of Toad Hall, a play based on Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, and Once upon a Time: A Fairy Tale for Grown-ups, both of which are sometimes included in volumes with the four classic works. Milne had a son, Christopher Robin, who served as the model for the little boy in his children's books.
E H Shepard famously illustrated both 'Winnie-the-Pooh' and 'The Wind in the Willows' though, like A A Milne, much of his career was devoted to work for the satirical magazine Punch. To do the illustrations for 'Winnie-the-Pooh', Shepard observed the real Christopher Robin Milne, but not the real Pooh. The bear in the pictures is in fact based on Growler, a toy belonging to Shepard's own son.
