The Same Pooh Bear, but an Otter Has Arrived

“Return to the Hundred Acre Wood,” the first authorized sequel to the A. A. Milne classic Winnie-the-Pooh books in more than 80 years, is out on Monday, inviting the question, “Why now?,” as well as, “Why do it at all?”

“Some people said it shouldn’t be done, and there will still be some of that now, this feeling that this is a gleaming jewel in the world of children’s books and don’t mess around with it,” Michael Brown, chairman of the Pooh Properties Trust, said of creating the sequel. “This doesn’t damage the original stories at all, though, and allows us to continue the stories in a world of kindness, cheerfulness, laughter and fun.”