New “Official” Pooh Announced For The First Time In 80+ Years

Man, this isn't even nerdy - everyone loves Winnie The Pooh! Sure, Disney's been pumping out the Pooh product incessantly, and it's cool and all that - we're especially fans of the Japanese-styled Flat Pooh in our household - but the idea of a new Pooh story that's actually fully authorized by A.A. Milne's estate? That's just freaking awesome. I just hope that whoever they gt to do the artwork for the book manages to mimic and/or convey the same amazingness that E. H. Shepard's art did back in the day.

WINNIE THE POOH MAKES A WELCOME RETURN IN FIRST AUTHORIZED SEQUEL TO THE HOUSE AT POOH CORNER ON OCTOBER 5th

PENGUIN YOUNG READERS GROUP (USA) TO PUBLISH RETURN TO THE HUNDRED ACRE WOOD

New York, NY (January 12, 2009) – Dutton Children’s Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group, Inc. (USA), will publish the first authorized sequel to A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh and The House At Pooh Corner entitled Return to the Hundred Acre Wood to be released October 5th 2009. Egmont Publishing will publish the book simultaneously in the UK.

Michael Brown, for the Trustees of the Pooh Properties, who manage the affairs of the A. A. Milne and E.H. Shepard Estates said, “We have been hoping for a good many years that we might one day be able to offer the world a sequel which would do justice to the original Winnie-the-Pooh stories. The original books were one of the greatest celebrations of childhood in any language, but we believe that David Benedictus and Mark Burgess have captured the spirit and quality of those original books. We hope that the many millions of Pooh enthusiasts and readers around the world will embrace and cherish these new stories as if they had just emerged from the pen of A. A. Milne himself.”

Don Weisberg, President of Penguin’s Young Readers Group commented, “Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin are an integral part of so many children’s reading experience. We are privileged to be part of this adventure to bring new tales to a generation of young people in the United States.”

David Benedictus’s manuscript was inspired by his familiarity with Winnie-the-Pooh’s adventures after having worked on Audio CD adaptations of previous Winnie-the-Pooh stories. David has collaborated with illustrator Mark Burgess to create what is sure to become another treasured Winnie-the-Pooh book.

Author David Benedictus is delighted to be working on this exciting new project:
“It’s an honour to have my sequel to the original stories approved by the Pooh Trustees. I hope that the new book will both complement and maintain Milne’s idea that whatever happens, a little boy and his Bear will always be playing.”