Alan Alexander Milne (; 18 January 1882 – 31 January 1956) was an English writer best known for his books about the

teddy bear A teddy bear is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. Developed apparently simultaneously by toymakers Morris Michtom in the U.S. and Richard Steiff under his aunt Margarete Steiff's company in Germany in the early 20th century, the teddy b ...

Winnie-the-Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. The first collection of stories about the character was the book ''Win ...

, as well as for children's poetry. Milne was primarily a playwright before the huge success of Winnie-the-Pooh overshadowed all his previous work. Milne served in both World Wars, as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the Home Guard in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. Milne was the father of bookseller

Christopher Robin Milne Christopher Robin Milne (21 August 1920 – 20 April 1996) was an English author and bookseller and the only child of author A. A. Milne. As a child, he was the basis of the character Christopher Robin in his father's Winnie-the-Pooh stories a ...

, upon whom the character

Christopher Robin Christopher Robin is a character created by A. A. Milne, based on his son Christopher Robin Milne. The character appears in the author's popular books of poetry and ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' stories, and has subsequently appeared in various Disney ...

is based. It was during a visit to

London Zoo London Zoo, also known as ZSL London Zoo or London Zoological Gardens is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a collection for scientific study. In 1831 or 1832, ...

, where Christopher became enamoured with the tame and amiable bear

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

, that inspired Milne to write the story for his son.

Early life and military career

Alan Alexander Milne was born in

Kilburn, London Kilburn is an area of north west London, England, which spans the boundary of three London Boroughs: London Borough of Camden, Camden to the east, City of Westminster, London Borough of Brent, Brent to the west. There is also an area in the City ...

, to John Vine Milne, who was born in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...

, and Sarah Marie Milne (née Heginbotham), on 18 January 1882. He grew up at Henley House School, 6/7 Mortimer Road (now Crescent), Kilburn, a small

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British En ...

run by his father. One of his teachers was H. G. Wells, who taught there in 1889–90. Milne attended

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, where he studied on a mathematics scholarship, graduating with a B.A. in Mathematics in 1903. He edited and wrote for ''

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and ma ...

'', a student magazine. He collaborated with his brother Kenneth and their articles appeared over the initials AKM. Milne's work came to the attention of the leading British humour magazine ''

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pu ...

'', where Milne was to become a contributor and later an assistant editor. Considered a talented

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

fielder, Milne played for two amateur teams that were largely composed of British writers: the Allahakbarries and the Authors XI. His teammates included fellow writers J. M. Barrie,

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...

and P. G. Wodehouse. Milne joined the British Army in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and served as an officer in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. He was commissioned into the 4th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, on 1 February 1915 as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army unt ...

(on probation). His commission was confirmed on 20 December 1915. He served on the Somme as a signals officer from July-November 1916, but caught trench fever and was invalided back to England. Having recuperated, he worked as a signals instructor, before being recruited into Military Intelligence to write propaganda articles for MI7 (b) between 1917 and 1918. He was discharged on 14 February 1919, and settled in

Mallord Street Mallord Street is a street in London, England in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It was named after Joseph Mallord William Turner who had lived in Chelsea. There are no other streets named Mallord Street in Great Britain. Mall ...

, Chelsea. He relinquished his commission on 19 February 1920, retaining the rank of lieutenant. Harrods of Knightsbridge, London, SW1 - geograph

After the war, he wrote a denunciation of war titled ''Peace with Honour'' (1934), which he retracted somewhat with 1940's ''War with Honour''. During World War II, Milne was one of the most prominent critics of fellow English writer (and Authors XI cricket teammate) P. G. Wodehouse, who was captured at his country home in France by the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

and imprisoned for a year. Wodehouse made radio broadcasts about his internment, which were broadcast from Berlin. Although the light-hearted broadcasts made fun of the Germans, Milne accused Wodehouse of committing an act of near treason by cooperating with his country's enemy. Wodehouse got some revenge on his former friend (e.g. in '' The Mating Season'') by creating fatuous parodies of the Christopher Robin poems in some of his later stories, and claiming that Milne "was probably jealous of all other writers.... But I loved his stuff." Milne married Dorothy "Daphne" de Sélincourt (1890–1971) in 1913 and their son

was born in 1920. In 1925, Milne bought a country home, Cotchford Farm, in Hartfield,

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East ...

. During World War II, Milne was a captain in the

British Home Guard The Home Guard (initially Local Defence Volunteers or LDV) was an armed citizen militia supporting the British Army during the Second World War. Operational from 1940 to 1944, the Home Guard had 1.5 million local volunteers otherwise ineligible f ...

in Hartfield & Forest Row, insisting on being plain "Mr. Milne" to the members of his platoon. He retired to the farm after a stroke and brain surgery in 1952 left him an invalid, and by August 1953, "he seemed very old and disenchanted." Milne died in January 1956, aged 74.

Literary career

1903 to 1925

After graduating from Cambridge University in 1903, A. A. Milne contributed humorous verse and whimsical essays to ''Punch'', joining the staff in 1906 and becoming an assistant editor. During this period he published 18 plays and three novels, including the murder mystery '' The Red House Mystery'' (1922). His son was born in August 1920 and in 1924 Milne produced a collection of children's poems, ''

When We Were Very Young ''When We Were Very Young'' is a best-selling book of poetry by A. A. Milne. It was first published in 1924, and it was illustrated by E. H. Shepard. Several of the verses were set to music by Harold Fraser-Simson. The book begins with an intro ...

'', which were illustrated by ''Punch'' staff cartoonist

E. H. Shepard Ernest Howard Shepard OBE MC (10 December 1879 – 24 March 1976) was an English artist and book illustrator. He is known especially for illustrations of the anthropomorphic animal and soft toy characters in ''The Wind in the Willows'' and ''Win ...

. A collection of short stories for children ''

A Gallery of Children ''A Gallery of Children'' is a collection of twelve children's fantasy stories by A. A. Milne, illustrated by Saida ( Henrietta Willebeek Le Mair). It was first published in hardcover in 1925 by the Stanley Paul & Co. in London and the David M ...

'', and other stories that became part of the Winnie-the-Pooh books, were first published in 1925. Milne was an early screenwriter for the nascent British film industry, writing four stories filmed in 1920 for the company Minerva Films (founded in 1920 by the actor

Leslie Howard Leslie Howard Steiner (3 April 18931 June 1943) was an English actor, director and producer.Obituary ''Variety'', 9 June 1943. He wrote many stories and articles for ''The New York Times'', ''The New Yorker'', and ''Vanity Fair'' and was one o ...

and his friend and story editor Adrian Brunel). These were ''The Bump'', starring Aubrey Smith; ''Twice Two''; ''Five Pound Reward''; and ''Bookworms''. Some of these films survive in the archives of the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

. Milne had met Howard when the actor starred in Milne's play ''Mr Pim Passes By'' in London. Looking back on this period (in 1926), Milne observed that when he told his agent that he was going to write a detective story, he was told that what the country wanted from a "''Punch'' humorist" was a humorous story; when two years later he said he was writing nursery rhymes, his agent and publisher were convinced he should write another detective story; and after another two years, he was being told that writing a detective story would be in the worst of taste given the demand for children's books. He concluded that "the only excuse which I have yet discovered for writing anything is that I want to write it; and I should be as proud to be delivered of a Telephone Directory ''con amore'' as I should be ashamed to create a Blank Verse Tragedy at the bidding of others."

1926 to 1928

Milne is most famous for his two ''Pooh'' books about a boy named

after his son,

(1920–1996), and various characters inspired by his son's stuffed animals, most notably the bear named

. Christopher Robin Milne's stuffed bear, originally named Edward, was renamed Winnie after a Canadian black bear named Winnie (after

), which was used as a military mascot in World War I, and left to

during the war. "The Pooh" comes from a swan the young Milne named "Pooh".

illustrated the original Pooh books, using his own son's teddy Growler ("a magnificent bear") as the model. The rest of Christopher Robin Milne's toys, Piglet,

Eeyore Eeyore ( ) is a fictional character in the ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' books by A. A. Milne. He is generally characterized as a pessimistic, gloomy, depressed, anhedonic, old grey stuffed donkey who is a friend of the title character, Winnie-the-P ...

, Kanga, Roo and

Tigger Tigger is a fictional character, an anthropomorphic stuffed tiger. He was originally introduced in the 1928 story collection '' The House at Pooh Corner'', the sequel to the 1926 book ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' by A. A. Milne. Like other Pooh chara ...

, were incorporated into A. A. Milne's stories, and two more characters – Rabbit and Owl – were created by Milne's imagination. Christopher Robin Milne's own toys are now on display in New York where 750,000 people visit them every year. The original Winnie the Pooh toys

The fictional Hundred Acre Wood of the Pooh stories derives from Five Hundred Acre Wood in

Ashdown Forest Ashdown Forest is an ancient area of open heathland occupying the highest sandy ridge-top of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is situated some south of London in the county of East Sussex, England. Rising to an elevation ...

in East Sussex, South East England, where the Pooh stories were set. Milne lived on the northern edge of the forest at Cotchford Farm, , and took his son walking there. E. H. Shepard drew on the landscapes of Ashdown Forest as inspiration for many of the illustrations he provided for the Pooh books. The adult Christopher Robin commented: "Pooh's Forest and Ashdown Forest are identical." Popular tourist locations at Ashdown Forest include: ''Galleon's Lap'', ''The Enchanted Place'', the ''

Heffalump Trap A Heffalump is a type of elephant-like character in the Winnie the Pooh stories by A. A. Milne. Heffalumps are mentioned, and only appear, in Pooh and Piglet's dreams in ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' (1926), and seen again in ''The House at Pooh Corner'' ...

'' and ''Lone Pine'', ''Eeyore’s Sad and Gloomy Place'', and the wooden ''Pooh Bridge'' where Pooh and Piglet invented Poohsticks. Not yet known as Pooh, he made his first appearance in a poem, "Teddy Bear", published in ''

'' magazine in February 1924 and republished that year in ''

''. Pooh first appeared in the '' London Evening News'' on Christmas Eve, 1925, in a story called "The Wrong Sort of Bees"."Pooh celebrates his 80th birthday"
BBC. Retrieved 11 November 2012 ''

'' was published in 1926, followed by '' The House at Pooh Corner'' in 1928. A second collection of nursery rhymes, '' Now We Are Six'', was published in 1927. All four books were illustrated by E. H. Shepard. Milne also published four plays in this period. He also "gallantly stepped forward" to contribute a quarter of the costs of dramatising P. G. Wodehouse's ''A Damsel in Distress''. ''The World of Pooh'' won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1958.

1929 onwards

The success of his children's books was to become a source of considerable annoyance to Milne, whose self-avowed aim was to write whatever he pleased and who had, until then, found a ready audience for each change of direction: he had freed pre-war ''Punch'' from its ponderous facetiousness; he had made a considerable reputation as a playwright (like his idol J. M. Barrie) on both sides of the Atlantic; he had produced a witty piece of detective writing in '' The Red House Mystery'' (although this was severely criticised by

Raymond Chandler Raymond Thornton Chandler (July 23, 1888 – March 26, 1959) was an American-British novelist and screenwriter. In 1932, at the age of forty-four, Chandler became a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive durin ...

for the implausibility of its plot in his essay ''

The Simple Art of Murder ''The Simple Art of Murder'' is the title of several quasi-connected publications by hard-boiled detective fiction author Raymond Chandler: *The first, and arguably best-known, is a critical essay on detective fiction, originally published in '' ...

'' in the eponymous collection that appeared in 1950). But once Milne had, in his own words, "said goodbye to all that in 70,000 words" (the approximate length of his four principal children's books), he had no intention of producing any reworkings lacking in originality, given that one of the sources of inspiration, his son, was growing older. Another reason Milne stopped writing children's books, and especially about Winnie-the-Pooh, was that he felt "amazement and disgust" over the fame his son was exposed to, and said that "I feel that the legal Christopher Robin has already had more publicity than I want for him. I do not want CR Milne to ever wish that his name were Charles Robert." In his literary home, ''

'', where the ''When We Were Very Young'' verses had first appeared, Methuen continued to publish whatever Milne wrote, including the long poem "The Norman Church" and an assembly of articles entitled ''Year In, Year Out'' (which Milne likened to a benefit night for the author). In 1930, Milne adapted

Kenneth Grahame Kenneth Grahame ( ; 8 March 1859 – 6 July 1932) was a British writer born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He is most famous for '' The Wind in the Willows'' (1908), a classic of children's literature, as well as '' The Reluctant Dragon''. Both books ...

's novel '' The Wind in the Willows'' for the stage as ''

Toad of Toad Hall ''Toad of Toad Hall'' is a play written by A. A. Milne – the first of several dramatisations of Kenneth Grahame's 1908 novel '' The Wind in the Willows'' – with incidental music by Harold Fraser-Simson. It was originally produced by Willi ...

''. The title was an implicit admission that such chapters as Chapter 7, "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn," could not survive translation to the theatre. A special introduction written by Milne is included in some editions of Grahame's novel. Milne and his wife became estranged from their son, who came to resent what he saw as his father's exploitation of his childhood and came to hate the books that had thrust him into the public eye. Christopher's marriage to his first cousin, Lesley de Sélincourt, distanced him still further from his parents – Lesley's father and Christopher's mother had not spoken to each other for 30 years.

Death and legacy

Commemoration

A. A. Milne died at his home in Hartfield,

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the Englis ...

, on 31 January 1956, nearly two weeks after his 74th birthday. After a memorial service in London, his ashes were scattered in a crematorium's memorial garden in Brighton. The rights to A. A. Milne's Pooh books were left to four beneficiaries: his family, the

Royal Literary Fund The Royal Literary Fund (RLF) is a benevolent fund that gives assistance to published British writers in financial difficulties. Founded in 1790, and granted a royal charter in 1818, the Fund has helped an extensive roll of authors through its long ...

and the Garrick Club. After Milne's death in 1956, thirteen days after his 74th birthday, his widow sold her rights to the Pooh characters to Stephen Slesinger, whose widow sold the rights after Slesinger's death to

the Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on Octobe ...

, which has made many Pooh cartoon movies, a

Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Comp ...

television show, as well as Pooh-related merchandise. In 2001, the other beneficiaries sold their interest in the estate to the Disney Corporation for $350m. Previously Disney had been paying twice-yearly royalties to these beneficiaries. The estate of

also received a sum in the deal. The UK copyright on the text of the original Winnie the Pooh books expires on 1 January 2027; at the beginning of the year after the 70th anniversary of the author's death ( PMA-70), and has already expired in those countries with a PMA-50 rule. This applies to all of Milne's works except those first published posthumously. The illustrations in the Pooh books will remain under copyright until the same amount of time has passed, after the illustrator's death; in the UK, this will be on 1 January 2047. In the US, copyright will not expire until 95 years after publication for each of Milne's books first published before 1978, but this includes the illustrations. In 2008, a collection of original illustrations featuring Winnie-the-Pooh and his animal friends sold for more than £1.2 million at auction in Sotheby's, London. ''Forbes'' magazine ranked Winnie the Pooh the most valuable fictional character in 2002; Winnie the Pooh merchandising products alone had annual sales of more than $5.9 billion. In 2005, Winnie the Pooh generated $6 billion, a figure surpassed only by

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...

A memorial plaque in

, unveiled by Christopher Robin in 1979, commemorates the work of A. A. Milne and Shepard in creating the world of Pooh. The inscription states they "captured the magic of Ashdown Forest, and gave it to the world". Milne once wrote of Ashdown Forest: "In that enchanted place on the top of the forest a little boy and his bear will always be playing."Ford, Rebecca (28 February 2007
"Happy Birthday Pooh"
''Daily Express''. Retrieved 15 October 2011 In 2003, ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' was ranked number 7 on the BBC's The Big Read poll which determined the UK's "best-loved novels". In 2006, Winnie-the-Pooh received a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Calif ...

, marking the 80th birthday of Milne's creation."Pooh joins Hollywood Walk of Fame"
BBC. Retrieved 24 November 2014 Marking the 90th anniversary of Milne's creation of the character, and the 90th birthday of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

, ''

Winnie-the-Pooh Meets the Queen ''Winnie-the-Pooh Meets the Queen'' (e-book edition published as ''Winnie-the-Pooh and the Royal Birthday'') is a 2016 children's book written to celebrate the 90th birthdays of both the fictional character Winnie-the-Pooh and Queen Elizabeth ...

'' (2016) sees Pooh meet the Queen at

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

. The illustrated and audio adventure is narrated by the actor

Jim Broadbent James Broadbent (born 24 May 1949) is an English actor. He won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for his supporting role as John Bayley in the feature film '' Iris'' (2001), as well as winning a BAFTA TV Award and a Golden Globe for ...

. Also in 2016, a new character, a Penguin, was unveiled in ''

The Best Bear in All the World ''Winnie-the-Pooh: The Best Bear in All the World'' is the second authorised sequel to A. A. Milne's original ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' stories. It was published on 6 October 2016 to mark the 90th anniversary of the publication of the first ''Winnie- ...

'', which was inspired by a long-lost photograph of Milne and his son Christopher with a toy penguin. An exhibition entitled '' Winnie-the-Pooh: Exploring a Classic'' appeared at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

in London from 9 December 2017 to 8 April 2018. Several of Milne's children's poems were set to music by the composer

Harold Fraser-Simson Harold Fraser-Simson (15 August 1872 – 19 January 1944) was an English composer of light music, including songs and the scores to Edwardian musical comedies, musical comedies. His most famous musical was the World War I hit ''The Maid of the M ...

. His poems have been parodied many times, including with the books ''When We Were Rather Older'' and ''Now We Are Sixty''. The 1963 film '' The King's Breakfast'' was based on Milne's poem of the same name. Milne has been portrayed in television and film.

Domhnall Gleeson Domhnall Gleeson (; born 12 May 1983) is an Irish actor and screenwriter. He is the son of actor Brendan Gleeson, with whom he has appeared in a number of films and theatre projects. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Media Arts from Dublin Ins ...

plays him in '' Goodbye Christopher Robin'', a 2017 biographical drama film. In the 2018 fantasy film ''

'', an extension of the Disney Winnie the Pooh franchise,

Tristan Sturrock Tristan Sturrock (born 1967) is a British theatre, television and film actor. He has worked with the theatre company Kneehigh for 30 years. He played the role of Zacky Martin in ''Poldark'' in all five seasons, which aired from 2015 to 2019 in the ...

plays Milne, and filming took place at Ashdown Forest. An elementary school in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

, operated by the

Houston Independent School District The Houston Independent School District (HISD) is the largest public school system in Texas, and the eighth-largest in the United States. Houston ISD serves as a community school district for most of the city of Houston and several nearby and ...

(HISD), is named after Milne. The school, A. A. Milne Elementary School in

Brays Oaks Brays Oaks, formerly known as Fondren Southwest, is an area in Southwest Houston, Texas, United States. The Brays Oaks Management District, also known as the Harris County Improvement District #5, governs the Brays Oaks area as well as other surro ...

, opened in 1991.

Religious views

Milne did not speak out much on the subject of religion, although he used religious terms to explain his decision, while remaining a pacifist, to join the

: "In fighting Hitler," he wrote, "we are truly fighting the Devil, the Anti-Christ ... Hitler was a crusader against God." His best known comment on the subject was recalled on his death: He wrote in the poem "Explained": He also wrote in the poem "Vespers":

Works

Novels

* ''Lovers in London'' (1905. Some consider this more of a short story collection; Milne did not like it and considered ''The Day's Play'' as his first book.) * ''

Once on a Time ''Once On A Time'' is a fairy tale by English writer A. A. Milne Alan Alexander Milne (; 18 January 1882 – 31 January 1956) was an English writer best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh, as well as for children's poet ...

'' (1917) * ''Mr. Pim'' (1921) (A novelisation of his 1919 play ''Mr. Pim Passes By'') * '' The Red House Mystery'' (1922). Serialised: London (Daily News), serialised daily from 3 to 28 August 1921 * ''Two People'' (1931) (Inside jacket claims this is Milne's first attempt at a novel.) * ''

Four Days' Wonder ''Four Days' Wonder'' is a 1936 American comedy mystery film directed by Sidney Salkow and starring Jeanne Dante, Kenneth Howell and Martha Sleeper. Produced by Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, ...

'' (1933) * ''

Chloe Marr ''Chloe Marr'' is a 1946 comedy novel by the British writer A.A. Milne.Shaw p.36 It was the last of a handful of novels written by Milne, better known for his plays and his short stories about Winnie the Pooh. Synopsis During the Interwar peri ...

'' (1946)

Non-fiction

* ''Peace With Honour'' (1934) * ''It's Too Late Now: The Autobiography of a Writer'' (1939) * ''War With Honour'' (1940) * ''War Aims Unlimited'' (1941) * ''Year In, Year Out'' (1952) (illustrated by E. H. Shepard)

''Punch'' articles

* ''The Day's Play'' (1910) * ''The Holiday Round'' (1912) * '' Once a Week'' (1914) * ''

The Sunny Side ''The Sunny Side'' is a collection of short stories and essays by A. A. Milne Alan Alexander Milne (; 18 January 1882 – 31 January 1956) was an English writer best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh, as well as for chi ...

'' (1921) * ''Those Were the Days'' (1929)

he four volumes above, compiled He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

Newspaper articles and book introductions

* ''The Chronicles of Clovis'' by " Saki" (1911) ntroduction to* ''Not That It Matters'' (1919) * ''If I May'' (1920) * ''By Way of Introduction'' (1929) * ‘'Women and Children First!’’. John Bull, 10 November 1934 * ''It Depends on the Book'' (1943, in September issue of Red Cross Newspaper ''The Prisoner of War'')

Story collections for children

* ''

'' (1925) * ''

'' (1926) (illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard) * '' The House at Pooh Corner'' (1928) (illustrated by

) * ''Short Stories''

Poetry collections for children

* ''

'' (1924) (illustrated by E. H. Shepard) * '' Now We Are Six'' (1927) (illustrated by E. H. Shepard)

Story collections

* ''The Secret and other stories'' (1929) * ''The Birthday Party'' (1948) * ''A Table Near the Band'' (1950)

Poetry

* ''

'' (1924) (illustrated by E. H. Shepard) * ''For the Luncheon Interval'' (1925)

oems from ''Punch'' An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is generally perceived as a company that produces non-aftermarket parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer. It is a common industry term recognized and used by many professional or ...

* '' Now We Are Six'' (1927) (illustrated by E. H. Shepard) * ''Behind the Lines'' (1940) * ''The Norman Church'' (1948)

Screenplays and plays

* ''

Wurzel-Flummery ''Wurzel-Flummery'' is a play by A. A. Milne, which was performed for the first time in 1917, in London. It was the first play Milne wrote. He originally wrote it in three acts, but when he got a good offer for a production if he cut it down t ...

'' (1917) * ''Belinda'' (1918) * ''The Boy Comes Home'' (1918) * ''Make-Believe'' (1918) (children's play) * ''The Camberley Triangle'' (1919) * ''

Mr. Pim Passes By ''Mr Pim Passes By'' is a three act comedy by A. A. Milne, first produced in 1919, and seen in the West End in 1920 and on Broadway and in Australia in 1921. There were later stage revivals in London and New York, and the play has been adapted ...

'' (1919) * ''The Red Feathers'' (1920) * ''The Romantic Age'' (1920) * ''The Stepmother'' (1920) * ''

The Truth About Blayds ''The Truth About Blayds'' is a three-act comedy by A. A. Milne, first performed in London in December 1921. It depicts the turmoil into which the family of a revered poet, Oliver Blayds, is plunged when it emerges immediately after his death th ...

'' (1920) * ''The Bump'' (1920, Minerva Films), starring C. Aubrey Smith and

Faith Celli Faith Celli (27 November 1888 – 16 December 1942), born Dorothy Faith Standing, was an English actress, particularly associated with the plays of J. M. Barrie and A. A. Milne. She had a 20-year career from 1907, after which she retired from the ...

* ''Twice Two'' (1920, Minerva Films) * ''Five Pound Reward'' (1920, Minerva Films) * ''Bookworms'' (1920, Minerva Films) * ''The Great Broxopp'' (1921) * '' The Dover Road'' (1921) * ''The Lucky One'' (1922) * ''The Truth About Blayds'' (1922) * ''The Artist: A Duologue'' (1923) * ''Give Me Yesterday'' (1923) (a.k.a. ''Success'' in the UK) * ''Ariadne'' (1924) * ''The Man in the Bowler Hat: A Terribly Exciting Affair'' (1924) * ''To Have the Honour'' (1924) * ''Portrait of a Gentleman in Slippers'' (1926) * ''Success'' (1926) * ''Miss Marlow at Play'' (1927) * ''Winnie the Pooh''. Written specially by Milne for a 'Winnie the Pooh Party' in aid of the National Mother-Saving Campaign, and performed once at Seaford House on 17 March 1928(London) Daily News, 9 March 1928 * ''

The Fourth Wall The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...

'' or ''The Perfect Alibi'' (1928) (later adapted for the film ''

Birds of Prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predat ...

'' (1930), directed by Basil Dean) * ''

The Ivory Door ''The Ivory Door'' is a three-act play by A. A. Milne. It is set in a fictional castle and the surrounding countryside. Background Milne, though he had written dozens of plays and screenplays through the 1910s and 1920s, had become best known b ...

'' (1929) * ''

'' (1929) (adaptation of '' The Wind in the Willows'') * ''

Michael and Mary ''Michael and Mary'' is a 1931 British drama film directed by Victor Saville and starring Elizabeth Allan, Edna Best, Frank Lawton, and Herbert Marshall. This was the first of the Edna Best and Herbert Marshall co-starring talkies. It was based ...

'' (1930) * ''Other People's Lives'' (1933) (a.k.a. ''They Don't Mean Any Harm'') * ''Miss Elizabeth Bennet'' (1936) ased_on_''Pride_and_Prejudice''.html" ;"title="Pride_and_Prejudice.html" ;"title="ased on ''Pride and Prejudice">ased on ''Pride and Prejudice''">Pride_and_Prejudice.html" ;"title="ased on ''Pride and Prejudice">ased on ''Pride and Prejudice''* ''Sarah Simple'' (1937) * ''Gentleman Unknown'' (1938) * ''The General Takes Off His Helmet'' (1939) in ''The Queen's Book of the Red Cross'' * ''The Ugly Duckling (play), The Ugly Duckling'' (1941) * ''Before the Flood'' (1951).

References

External links

*
A. A. Milne Collection
at the

Ann Thwaite Collection of A. A. Milne
at the

* * *
Works by A. A. Milne at BiblioWiki (Canada)
includes the complete text of the four Pooh books * *
Portraits of A. A. Milne
in the National Portrait Gallery
Essays by Milne
at Quotidiana.org

in ''The Guardian''

at Just-Pooh.com
A. A. Milne at poeticous.com
*
AA Milne , Books , The Guardian

Finding aid to the A.A. Milne letters at Columbia University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Milne, A. A. 1882 births 1956 deaths English people of Scottish descent People from Hampstead People from Kilburn, London 20th-century British dramatists and playwrights 20th-century British short story writers 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English poets Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge British Army personnel of World War I British Home Guard officers Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers officers English children's writers Members of the Detection Club People educated at Westminster School, London Punch (magazine) people English male poets Winnie-the-Pooh Writers from London English male novelists Children's poets Military personnel from London English autobiographers

Early life and military career

Literary career

1903 to 1925

1926 to 1928

1929 onwards

Death and legacy

Commemoration

Archive

Religious views

Works

Novels

Non-fiction

''Punch'' articles

Newspaper articles and book introductions

Story collections for children

Poetry collections for children

Story collections

Poetry

Screenplays and plays

References

Further reading

External links