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See Winnie the Pooh’s home in real life

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fans of Winnie the Pooh can finally </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://travel.nine.com.au/latest/winnie-the-poohs-tree-house-for-rent-at-this-bearbnb/0f592473-75a0-4630-9066-e545c7da8dc6" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">see</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> the Hundred Acre Wood in real life thanks to AirBnb and Kim Richards, who illustrated Winnie the Pooh for 30 years.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Raymond designed the house based on the descriptions in the books by EH Shephard, built in Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, the inspiration for the book’s woodland setting.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The house is made up of a single room that looks as if it was built into a tree, complete with a “Mr Sanders” sign above the door, and “hunny pots” inside.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to the </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://news.airbnb.com/en-au/winniethepooh/" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">AirBnb listing</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, the house allows for four guests spread across a double bed and two smaller loft beds above it.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Richards even covered the interior with bespoke wallpaper designed by him.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">House rules include no “heffalumps”, mandatory “Poohsticks”, and that multiple naps are permitted.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The bear-y comfortable home was available to rent by UK residents for just two stays at $144 a night, in celebration of the 95th anniversary of Pooh’s creation by AA Milne.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Proceeds from the stays went to the charity Together for Short Lives.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Images: AirBnb</span></em></p>

International Travel

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The brilliant way Disney celebrated the birth of baby Archie

<p>Plenty of babies and young children have Disney products in their possession, but not many can say they have a special gift directly from the animation company itself.</p> <p>Following the arrival of baby Archie Mountbatten-Windsor on May 6, Disney created a Winnie-The-Pooh animation video to celebrate his birth.</p> <p>The brilliant clip details the honey-loving bear travelling all the way to Windsor Palace to bring a special book to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and the newborn son in a cradle.</p> <p>In the animation, Winnie-the-Pooh travels all the way from the Hundred Acre Wood to the new royal parents, with a book with a crown on the cover under his arm.</p> <p>The bear then is seen sitting beside the Duke and Duchess as they flip through the book with a smile on their faces.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"> <p dir="ltr">To celebrate the birth of Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, <a href="https://twitter.com/Disney?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Disney</a> have created a special Winnie-the-Pooh animation as a gift for Harry and Meghan. The short was hand-painted in watercolour by Disney’s senior principal artist Kim Raymond. Really special🎨 <a href="https://t.co/PrY5wlMeBQ">pic.twitter.com/PrY5wlMeBQ</a></p> — Omid Scobie (@scobie) <a href="https://twitter.com/scobie/status/1126580022150598657?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 9, 2019</a></blockquote> <p>The video was shared to social media, garnering in over 7,000 likes and retweets with the caption: “The short was hand-painted in watercolour by Disney’s senior principal artist Kim Raymond.”</p> <p>Royal commentator Omid Scobie shared the sweet animation, one that might have had quite a profound impact on Prince Harry in particular.</p> <p>When his nephew Prince Louis was born in April last year, the Prince reportedly bought a very special gift for the latest royal arrival, which was a rare first-edition of the AA Milne classic.</p> <p>The book, <em>Winnie-The-Pooh </em>was published originally in 1926 and is reported to cost upwards of $15,000.</p> <p>Royal insiders claimed the first-of-its-kind novel was just a small part of a number of first editions Prince Harry planned to obtain for his young nephews and niece.</p> <p>“He originally wanted to get Lewis Carroll’s <em>Through The Looking Glass</em>, which was on sale for £24,000 ($AU45,000), but decided Winnie-The-Pooh would be more suitable reading material,” they told <em><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/6727671/prince-harry-louis-winnie-the-pooh-christening/" target="_blank" title="The Sun">The Sun</a></em> last year.</p> <p>Scroll through the gallery above to see the special animation for baby Archie through images.</p>

Books

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Inside the house that inspired Winnie the Pooh

<p>The classic country farmhouse which served as British author A. A. Milne's inspiration for the beloved <em>Winnie the Pooh</em> stories has been put on the market.</p> <p>Located in the small English village of Hartfield in East Sussex, the famous Cotchford Farm has been listed by Savills for £1.895 million ($3.2 million).</p> <p>Milne purchased the property in 1925 to escape the hustle and bustle of London with his wife Dorothy and their young son, Christopher Robin Milne. It was on his walks to nearby Ashdown forest that Milne was inspired to write the famous adventures of Christopher Robin and his friend Winnie the Pooh.  </p> <p>The marks left by the farms former owner are etched across the property, most notably in the form of a sundial in the garden which is inscribed with Milne's initials and uses a quill to tell the time. It features Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore, Rabbit and Owl carved into the stone.</p> <p>The classic home is also famous for being the final home of the Rolling Stones founding member Brian Jones, who died at the property in 1969.</p> <p>The grade II listed, 351-sqm farmhouse dates back to the 16th century and boasts six bedrooms, five bathrooms, an oak-panelled dining room and a split-level drawing room, which features a Inglenook fireplace and a wood burning stove.</p> <p>Spread over 3.8 hectares, Cotchford Farm also features a heated swimming pool, an ornamental fish pond, landscaped gardens, which includes a stone statue of Christopher Robin Milne as a child, and a private woodland.</p> <p>The new owners of the property won't have to wander far to stumble across a few familiar locations, as famous places in the books including Hundred Acre Wood, Galleon's Lap, Poohsticks Bridge and Pooh Corner are all based on local landmarks.</p> <p>Cotchford Farm's picturesque surrounds held a special place in Milne's heart, and judging by the pictures of the property, it's no wonder why the author wrote the famous line: “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”</p> <p>See inside the stunning property above and tell us in the comments, were you a fan of Winnie the Pooh as a child?</p> <p><em>Written by Natalia Didovich. First appeared on <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Stuff.co.nz</span></strong></a>. Image credit: Savills.</em></p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/entertainment/books/2017/01/famous-authors-reveal-favourite-books/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>10 famous authors reveal their favourite books</strong></em></span></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/entertainment/books/2016/09/10-lessons-from-childrens-books-to-rediscover/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>10 lessons from children’s books to rediscover as an adult</strong></em></span></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/entertainment/books/2016/08/8-facts-about-anne-of-green-gables/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>8 things you might not know about Anne of Green Gables</strong></em></span></a></p>

Books

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Meet the real-life Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin

<p>You'll know the popular characters made world famous by A. A. Milne in 1924, but did you know the story is based on his son Christopher Robin Milne, born on August 21, 1920? This story gets even more adorable than that.</p><p><img width="500" height="308" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/9630/unknown_500x308.jpg" alt="Unknown"></p><p>For his first birthday, Christopher Robin was given a cream-colored teddy bear that he named Edward. This teddy, along with an actual bear at the London Zoo named Winnie and a swan named Pooh, became the basis for Milne’s classic children’s character, Winnie the Pooh.&nbsp;</p><p>Winnie the Pooh first appeared in Milne’s 1924 book of children’s verse <em>When We Were Very Young</em>. And was soon joined by Christopher Robin’s other beloved stuffed animals Tigger, Piglet, Eeyore and Kanga.&nbsp;</p><p>While Christopher Robin was more than delighted to feature in his father’s stories when he was young, sadly as he grew older and was teased by classmates, he began to resent his fame.&nbsp;</p><p><img width="499" height="420" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/9631/christopherrobin-1_499x420.jpg" alt="Christopherrobin -1"></p><p>For some interesting facts, you might enjoy hearing that Christopher Robin attended Cambridge and served in the Royal Corps of Engineers in World War II. After her married in 1948 he opened a bookshop with his wife.</p><p>Befitting the lovely childhood stories of Winnie the Pooh, this real-life tale also has a happily every after of its very own. Eventually Christopher Robin came to accept his fame evidenced during his efforts to protect Ashdown forest — the inspiration for the Hundred Acre Wood — from oil exploration. He dedicated monuments to his father’s stories as a means to preserve the forest.</p><p><strong>Related links:</strong></p><p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="/lifestyle/family/2015/08/new-favourite-childhood-book-covers/">Your favourite childhood books now look different</a></strong></em></span></p><p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="/lifestyle/family/2015/08/vintage-lego-ads/">7 vintage Lego ads that will take you back to your childhood</a></strong></em></span></p><p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="/lifestyle/family/2015/08/struggles-kids-of-today-dont-understand/">12 struggles your grandkids will never have to go through</a></strong></em></span></p>

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