Help support TMP


Winnie's Great War


Author
Lindsay Mattick, Josh Greenhut
Type
Fiction
Status
In Print
Publisher
Little, Brown (2018)

Rate This Book

If you have read this book, please rate it from 1 (low) to 10 (high).

TMP Members can rate this book. Would you like to be a member?


Back to BOOKS FOR WARGAMERS


Areas of Interest

World War One

Featured Hobby News Article


Featured Link


Featured Ruleset


Featured Profile Article

15mm Battlefield in a Box: Bridges

Personal logo Editor in Chief Bill The Editor of TMP Fezian finds bridges to match the river sets.


Featured Book Review


This entry created 28 July 2023. Last revised on 28 July 2023.

516 hits since 27 Jul 2023
©1994-2024 Bill Armintrout
Comments or corrections?


Winnie's Great War
Rating: gold star gold star gold star gold star gold star gold star no star no star no star no star (6.00)

241 pages. Illustrated by Sophie Blackall. Family archive (appendix with photos).

As it turns out, the fictional Winnie the Pooh was inspired by a zoo bear named Winnie (short for Winnipeg), which a young Christopher Robin visited.

But how did a Canadian bear cub end up in a London zoo? An orphaned female bear cub was purchased as a mascot by Canadian soldiers on their way to Europe in WWI, and donated to the zoo when the soldiers left the U.K. for the Continent.

So what is this novel? A mother tells her young son the story of the bear their ancestor purchased when in the army. The story is based on the known facts, fleshed out with reasonable conjecture. And in this version, Winnie can talk to other animals because she loves everyone, and finds her mission in life.

I thought the story got off to a slow and predictable start, but I was quite entertained once Winnie became involved with army life. The idea of a bear with a life goal is a fun concept.

There's a brief appendix with photos of the historical Canadian soldiers and their mascot, and Winnie at the zoo.

Can you wargame it? At one point, Winnie is trained to track scents in a trench system. (One of the reasons she is donated to the zoo is that her owner fears she'll be weaponized if she goes to the front.) Bear soldiers, anyone?

This could be a fun book to read to your kids (or grandkids). Heck, I even enjoyed it myself.

Reviewed by Personal logo Editor in Chief Bill The Editor of TMP Fezian.