My great-grandfather Harry Colebourn opened his diary on August 24, 1914, and recorded the purchase of a small black bear cub for twenty dollars. At that time, he couldn’t possibly have imagined that the events that would follow would eventually help inspire one of the most beloved children’s stories of all time. Growing up with this incredible family story instilled in me a lasting notion that the world was a very big place that could be shaped in part by the smallest of loving gestures.

The story of Harry and Winnie, set against the backdrop of the events of the Great War, reminds us of how much had to be lost for so much to be gained. It is this legacy of love and kindness, as well as bravery and sacrifice, that I am grateful to share with my own children, Cole and Claudia, and with readers everywhere.

In addition to his 1914 diary, Harry left behind other items that make up our family archive. The photographs, artifacts, and additional diaries that anchor the events of Winnie’s Great War in world history have captured my imagination for as long as I can remember. They have also served to make the somewhat surreal story of a soldier bringing a bear cub to war that would go on to inspire a very famous literary character seem all the more real to me. On the following pages you will find some of the most treasured items from our family archive. I hope they serve as a reminder that sometimes the best stories are, in fact, true.

Lindsay Mattick