A A Milne Biography and List of Works

English writer, the creator of Winner-the-Pooh. Milne wrote many different kinds of books including humorous verses and light comedies as a staff member of Punch and the detective novel THE RED HOUSE MYSTERY, which was severely criticized by Raymond Chandler. But Milne's most popular works are WINNIE-THE-POOH (1926) and THE HOUSE AT POOH CORNER (1928).

"On Wednesday, when the sky is blue,
And I have nothing else to do,
I sometimes wonder if it's true
That who is what and what is who."
(from Winnie-the-Pooh)

A.A. Milne was born in London. His father owned a private school at Mortiner Road, the Henley House, an institution that for a short time included among its teachers the science fiction writer H.G. Wells. Milne studied mathematics at the Trinity College in Cambridge, and edited the undergraduate magazine Granta. After receiving his B.A. in 1903, he started his career as a freelance writer. Milne's essays and poems were published in the satirical magazine Punch and St. James' Gazette. In 1906 he joined the staff of Punch.

At H.G. Wells's suggestion Milne turned some of his sketches into a novel. His first book, LOVERS IN LONDON, appeared in 1905. His next books were collections of his Punch pieces. In the 1910s he became well known as a playwright, notably for MR. PLIM PASSES BY (1919). In 1913 Milne married Dorothy de Sêlincourt. Their only son, Christopher Robin Milne, was born in 1920.

During World War I Milne served in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment as a signals officer. He was posted to France briefly in 1916 and wrote propaganda for the Intelligence service. The horrors he witnessed on the battlefields left him with a lifelong longing for the innocence of childhood. After the war THE DOVER ROAD (1921) continued his success. Most of Milne's plays are nonfantastic, but he also wrote for children. Milne's plays were produced in London and on Broadway and their popularity enabled him to buy a country home, Cotchford Farm, in Sussex in 1925.

In 1922 Milne published a detective story, The Red House Mystery, in the Sherlock Holmes tradition. His other mysteries include FOUR DAY'S WONDER (1933) and the drama THE FOURTH WALL, which was made into a film under the title The Perfect Alibi.

At the age of 42 Milne published WHEN WE WERE VERY YOUNG, a collection of poetry for children. Two years later followed Winnie-the-Pooh. These extraordinary popular stories were set in Ashdown forest. They feature Milne's son Christopher (1920-1996) with various talking animals and animated versions of his toys - among them the famous teddy bear, Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore and others. E.H. Shepard originally illustrated the stories. The House at Pooh Corner (1928) continued the adventures of Pooh Bear and his friends. Later Pooh became an industry, producing toys, comics, and such films as Winnie-the-Pooh and the Honey Tree (1996) from Disney.

"It's a very funny thought that, if Bears were Bees,
They'd build their nests at the bottom of trees.
And that being so (if the Bees were Bears),
We shouldn't have to climb up all these stairs."

Winnie-the-Pooh has been the subject of psychological analysis - noteworthy is the absence of Christopher Robin's mother. Milne's son Christopher found that he had to dissociate himself from the legend he had inspired. He analysed his relationship with his father in Enchanted Places (1975), writing that his father's 'heart remained buttoned up all through his life'.

An operation on Milne's brain in 1952 left him an invalid during the last four years of his life. He died in Hartfield, Sussex, on January 31, 1956. After his wife's death in 1971 part of the fortune earned by the Pooh books came to the Royal Literary Fund, providing for writers in financial distress.

"A 'children's book' must be written, not for children, but for the author himself."

For further reading: The Enchanted Places by Christopher Milne (1974); A.A. Milne: A Critical Biography by Tori Haring-Smith (1982); Secret Gardens by H. Carpenter (1985); A.A. Milne: The Man Behind Winnie-the-Pooh by A. Thwaite (1990); A.A. Milne by J.C. Wheeler and R.A. Walner (1992); The Brilliant Career of Winnie-the Pooh by Ann Thwaite (1994); The Pooh Dictionary by A.R. Melrose (1995) - Note: Rolling Stone guitarist Brian Jones was found dead in Milne's swimming pool on July 3, 1969. - Other classic English children's fantasies: Lewis Carroll's Alice books

LOVERS IN LONDON, (1905)
CHLOE MARR, (1946)
GOING ABROAD?, (1947)
THE NORMAN CHURCH, (1948)
BOOKS FOR CHILDREN, (1948)
BIRTHDAY PARTY AND OTHER STORIES, (1948)
THE TABLE NEAR THE BAND AND OTHER STORIES, (1950)
BEFORE THE FLOOD, (1951)
YEAR IN, YEAR OUT, (1952)
PRINCE RABBIT, AND THE PRINCESS WHO COULD NOT LAUGH, (1966)
THE WORLD OF CHRISTOPHER ROBIN, (1991)