Introduction
I chose to do this Author study on A.A. Milne because I wanted to know more about the man behind the bear. Winnie-the-Pooh is a character that people of all ages know and love. I wanted to learn about the inspiration and where our beloved Pooh came from and boy was I not disappointed.
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Task
Alan Alexander Milne was born January 18, 1882 was a British author who is best known for his books about Winnie the Pooh. Alan was born and lived most of his live in England. He attended Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge where he studied on a mathematics scholarship and graduated with a B.A, in Mathematics in 1903. Milne joined the British Army and served as an officer for a few years. He then was recruited into Military Intelligence to write propaganda from 1916-1918. He was discharged from the military in 1919. In 1913 Milne married Dorothy de Selincourt and they had their only son, Christopher Robin Milne in 1920.
The stories of Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends where inspired by his only son, Christopher robin. He named the child in his stories after his son. Milne and Christopher had story time each night where they would sit around and talk about the adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh and other stories.
When Milne decided to share his stories with the world he was un prepared for how much the world would fall in love with Pooh and his friends. He had to do several reprints of his books and actually got frustrated because he wanted to create different stories but the readers were not interested.
Winnie-the-Pooh is now one of the world’s most known and loved character. Forbes Magazine named Winnie-the-Pooh the most valuable fictional character. In 2002, Pooh merchandising alone brought in sales of $5.9 billion dollars.
Annotated Bibliography
When We Were Very Young by A.A. Milne Illustrations by Ernest H. Shepard
Now WE are Six by A.A. Milne Illustrations by Ernest H. Shepard
Eeyore Has a Birthday by A.A. Milne Illustrations by Ernest H. Shepard
Pooh Goes Visting by A.A. Milne Illustrations by Ernest H. Shepard
Tiger Comes to the Forest by A.A. Milne Illustrations by Ernest H. Shepard
Winnie-the-Pooh and Some Bees by A.A. Milne Illustrations by Ernest H. Shepard
The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne Illustrations by Ernest H. Shepard
Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne Illustrations by Ernest H. Shepard
The World of Christopher Robin by A.A. Milne Illustrations by Ernest H. Shepard
The World of Pooh by A.A. Milne Illustrations by Ernest H. Shepard
Objectives:
We will learn about AA Milne and where his inspiration came from to write the Winnie-the-Pooh books. Students will use these books to learn our short vowel u sounds. Students will be able to recall the events of a story in order. Students will be able to recall details about the stories by using their journals and through discussions in the classroom. Students will be able to use a combination of drawings, dictating, and text to create their own story. Students will also be able to identify the parts of a book, like cover, title page, author and illustrator
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Process
Materials:
Balloon
Smart board
YouTube
Cover pages
Title pages
Blank pages
Crayons
Pencils
Hook:
On a balloon write “Today is a very special day! We are about to begin a wonderful journey together through One Hundred Acre Woods. So grab the hand of a dearest friend and away we go. ” Have students grab another’s hand and skip around the room while singing Winnie-the-Pooh theme song plays on smart board.
Procedure:
Make sure there are books on each table for all students to be able to see.
Have big book on easel at the front of the room.
Show the students a cover.
What do you think this book is going to be about by looking at the cover?
Do you know what an author is?
What about an illustrator?
Every book is written by someone, their name will be on the front cover and you can also find it inside.
When you open a book you will see a page that had the title, author’s name and illustrator; this is called a title page.
Sometimes you will find a note or dedication that the author wrote to someone special to them; this is called a dedication page.
Then your story will begin.
This week we are going to read books by A.A. Milne.
So let’s learn a little bit about him before we start reading his books.
A.A. Milne wrote books about Winnie-the-Pooh.
Where do you think he came up with the idea to write a book about a bear and his friends?
A.A. Milne wrote these stories for his only son, Christopher Robin Milne. This is also the name of the boy in his stories. Each of the stories included in this books are told by Milne to
Christopher Robin.
Are there some special stories that your families like to share again and again?
Emphasize how special these story sharings were to A.A. Milne and his son and tell them that that night they will talk to their families about their special story-sharing times.
Tonight I want you to go home and share a special story with your family. It can be a story that you make up or one that is your favorite. We will talk about your story time with your family tomorrow.
Today we are going to make our own book. We are going to make a journal. We will write in our journals every day this week.
First I want you to color your cover page. I have four different pages that you can choose from. Remember it’s the cover of your book so make it pretty.
Then we will create our title page. You can call your book whatever you would like.
Since you are writing the book and illustrating all the pictures you will be both the author and the illustrator. So you will just have to write your name on this page. (Give students blank page with “written & illustrated by:________, type at the bottom of the page).
We are going to staple blank sheets of paper to these pages so that you will be able to write your book as we read stories by A.A. Milne all week.
Closing:
Show the students my final journal and explain to them that by the end of the week they will have thier own book that they can take home and read to thier family.