Pooh's enduring appeal includes gentle humor, recognizable personalities, and the comfort of friendship.

Character styles have changed little in one hundred years.

Transitional objects can offer comfort at any age.

A. A. Milne wrote Winnie-the-Pooh for his son, Christopher Robin. It was published on October 14, 1926, and sold 150,000 copies before the year was out. Pooh books have since sold more than 45 million copies in the United States alone, and have been translated into over 50 languages.

A Gentle World After a War

Milne was already a well-known humorist at Punch magazine and a successful playwright. Pooh himself made his first appearance in a London newspaper on Christmas Eve 1925.

Milne had served in the First World War, and Britain was still grieving. Into that world came a quiet forest where the biggest crisis was a lost tail or a bear stuck in a doorway. Pooh offered a refuge then, and he offers one now.

Part of the pleasure is knowing these characters so well. We can almost predict what each will say. Perhaps we recognize someone we love in many of them. Perhaps, we may even recognize ourselves.

Pooh's forgetfulness is a loose match for inattentive ADHD. He may lose track of a plan, especially when honey is involved, but he never loses his affection for a friend.

Piglet approaches life cautiously. His tendency to anticipate trouble resembles the worry of generalized anxiety disorder. Yet he is loyal and willing to help. He reminds us that bravery can come in a very small package, and that feeling afraid does not stop us from doing something meaningful.

Eeyore expects disappointment. His gloom brings to mind persistent depressive disorder. But his dry humor makes him much more than the sad........

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