Finding Winnie: the True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear by Lindsay Mattick is a level M on the Fountas and Pinnell reading level scale. Finding Winnie: the True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear is about the bear behind the world famous Winnie the Pooh. A veterinarian who was going out to tend the horses decided to take in this cub and named her Winnie after his home town Winnipeg. The veterinarian took Winnie to war. This book tells the adventures Winnie had up until she ended up in the London Zoo and met a new friend named Christopher Robin. This is a great book to do during a shared reading lesson, and students could make predictions of what is going to happen during Winnie’s adventures. 

Isn't it sad when a book comes out and people just seem to be completely unaware of 1. its existence and 2. its level of amazingness? Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear by Lindsay Mattick is one of those hidden gems. I've mentioned before that if a book doesn't circulate it's offered to another branch in the hope that it might do better in a different location. That's how this book landed in my hands (it was also on my TRL).  As the title suggests, this is the story of the bear named Winnie that spawned the Winnie-the-Pooh series by A.A. Milne. It's the heartwarming tale of a man who befriended a baby bear and their journeys together during the tumultuous times of WWI. It's also the story about how this same bear met a little boy who would eventually spur entire generations to hug their teddy bears just a little bit tighter. Additionally, the back of the book contains a really lovely surprise that I don't want to spoil for ya'll. :-) I think this would make a wonderful bedtime read-aloud. You could also encourage your child to read this book aloud to their teddy bear. (Then take lots of photos of it.) Believe it or not, this exercise will help to strengthen your child's confidence in reading aloud to others (or to themselves). As for me, I can't wait for the opportunity to read this one in a storytime. XD 9/10

I found the story interesting but didn't like the format of the book. I would have preferred historical fiction over framing the story with the child and his mother in the present. The story is divided into two parts, but both parts could have done with a little fleshing out. I might have to see what the honor books from 2016 are to see if it was just a bad year for picture books or what.