Alan Alexander Milne (1882-1956) was an English author and veteran of the first World War who rose to prominence after publishing a series of stories based his son's stuffed bear. The bear was originally named Edward Bear, but was later renamed Winnie after a Canadian black bear who caught the imagination of the British public when it was transported to the London Zoo during World War I. Milne's son, Christopher Robin Milne, had a collection of stuffed animals, most of whom appeared as characters in the Winnie-the-Pooh stories: Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo and Tigger (Rabbit and Owl were invented by the author). The original stuffed animals are now on permanent display at the New York Public Library and are visited by hundreds of thousands of admirers every year. Apart from the Pooh stories, A.A. Milne was a prolific writer, contributing stories to the magazine Punch (where he served as an assistant editor) and penning eighteen plays and three novels before 1926. Originally the subject of short stories, the first collection - Winnie-the-Pooh - was published in 1926, followed by The House at Pooh Corner in 1928. While the Pooh stories were easily the most popular and lucrative of Milne's work, Milne continued writing adult fiction and plays. But none of his other works achieved the same notoriety or success as the Pooh series. A.A. Milne died on January 31, 1956 at age 74. Despite his prodigious literary output in other genres, it is the Winnie-the-Pooh stories that remain among the most popular children's fiction ever created. In addition to the millions of print copies sold over the years they have been brought to the screen - most notably by the Walt Disney Company - for decades and Milne's gentle and occasionally absurdist humor will no doubt enchant children and adults for decades to come.