Revisit Winnie-the-Pooh’s ‘Hundred Acre Wood’ at Mazza Museum

Kathryn Aalto

Did you know that the setting for the Winnie-the-Pooh tales, now nearly a century old, was inspired by a location that remains publicly accessible? Find out more during two fascinating and free public lectures, crafted for adults, which will be hosted by the University of Findlay’s Mazza Museum. Speaking will be landscape historian and designer Kathryn Aalto, author of the New York Times bestselling nonfiction book, “The Natural World of Winnie-the-Pooh.”
The first event will be held at the Museum on Thursday, Oct. 12 from noon to 1 p.m. Join UF faculty and staff as Aalto takes participants on a journey to the place we all know from our childhoods, but never realized is a real place with rare flora and fauna. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own lunch.
A second free talk, scheduled from 6-8:30 p.m. that day, will feature a vivid keynote lecture that will introduce the rare Ashdown Forest where Milne walked with Christopher Robin, relay the backstory of Milne’s classic books, and offer ways to rethink the changing nature of childhood. Honey-themed hors d’oeuvres and honey-themed wine will be served.

Ashdown Forest

The author will also be giving private presentations on campus to younger readers of UF’s Clubhouse Reading Center, and to college students.
Aalto’s New York Times bestseller takes readers on a thought-provoking “walk” through the forest in the Sussex countryside that inspired the Hundred Acre Wood in A.A. Milne’s classic tales, “Winnie-the-Pooh” and “The House at Pooh Corner.” The location is now one of the largest free public access spaces in England’s southeast. Along with including interesting facts, her book takes a look at what we can learn from studying the intersection of nature and culture.
For more information on Aalto’s Mazza Museum public events, contact administrative assistant Molly Cooper at cooper@findlay.edu or call 419-434-5521.