FARSHORE ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR WINNIE-THE-POOH CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS
Today, leading children’s publisher Farshore announced its plans to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first Winnie-the-Pooh book throughout 2025 and 2026 with new editions, a brand new authorised sequel, collaborations with National Trust properties and Scottish Book Trust, and a major PR and marketing campaign. Farshore are the exclusive publisher for the classic Winnie-the-Pooh titles in the UK and Commonwealth, excluding Canada.
To mark 100 years of Winnie-the-Pooh, Farshore will publish beautiful new editions of the four A.A. Milne and E.H. Shepard classic titles – including facsimile editions – and the authorised prequel and sequels in hardback and paperback. The anniversary branding and new jackets have been designed by Micaela Alcaino, who won Designer of the Year in 2022 at the British Book Awards. The first books will be released in October 2025, with further titles coming across 2026.
In October 2026, 100 years after the first publication of Winnie-the-Pooh, Farshore will release A Little Boy and His Bear, a new authorised sequel written by Jane Riordan and illustrated by Andrew Grey. Farshore will also publish new titles in its Disney range, including two picture books in 2026.
As well as the beautiful new editions, there will also be a major marketing and PR campaign throughout 2025 and 2026. Farshore is working with the National Trust and Cheshire East Council to bring to life an exhibition and book trail based on the original four titles Shepard and Milne collaborated on, including archive material from the Shepard and Milne estates, the archive held at the University of Surrey, and additional material from the HarperCollins archive, held in its new state-of-the-art distribution centre in Robroyston, Glasgow. This exhibition will travel through National Trust and Cheshire East Council properties across the country in 2026, including Nymans (Sussex) in the spring, Tatton Park (Cheshire) in the summer and at Anglesey Abbey (Cambridgeshire) that winter.
HarperCollins will also be working with Scottish Book Trust for its annual Christmas appeal which aims to give the magic of books to families in need through food banks, community groups and other charities. Scottish Book Trust will feature iconic Winnie-the-Pooh artwork in its fundraising campaign for the Christmas Appeal 2025, which will be used across digital platforms and for leaflets distributed in its Bookbug Bags to thousands of families across Scotland. This will begin in November 2025 and run for a year.
Throughout 2025 and 2026, there will be a number of key events celebrating the centenary including panel events with high-profile fans of Winnie-the-Pooh and a tour with author Jane Riordan across schools and festivals. Farshore will also further engage schools in a nationwide campaign to encourage children to design birthday cards for Winnie-the-Pooh – supported by curriculum-linked resource packs – which will then be displayed in an exhibition in 2026. Additionally, 100 libraries nationwide will receive Winnie-the-Pooh branded story time packs to celebrate the 100th anniversary.
There will also be a major marketing campaign throughout the anniversary, engaging millions of families across the UK & Ireland with outdoor advertising, Winnie-the-Pooh POS party packs, radio campaigns and multi-platform digital advertising. Farshore has appointed award-winning PR agency Riot Communications to lead an extensive publicity campaign for the centenary throughout 2025 and 2026.
Cally Poplak, Publisher and Managing Director at Farshore and HarperCollins Children’s Books said: “My mother read Winnie-the-Pooh to me and A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard’s books are very much part of my childhood, so I still pinch myself that I have the privilege of publishing these stories and poems that have enchanted families for 100 years. I’m thrilled to mark this special milestone for Pooh with beautiful new editions, a delightful sequel and partnerships that celebrate Pooh’s legacy and introduce the timeless charm of A.A. Milne and E.H. Shepard’s stories to new readers and families.”
Trustees of The Shepard Trust said: “We are delighted to join Farshore in celebrating this remarkable milestone. For 100 years, E.H. Shepard’s beloved decorations have brought these timeless stories and characters to life. We are thrilled for his artistic legacy to continue bringing pleasure and joy to people around the world.”
The Trustees of the Pooh Properties said: “When A.A. Milne introduced the world to Winnie the Pooh over three generations ago, he surely could not have anticipated that Pooh would still appeal to readers a hundred years later, from toddlers upwards and their enthusiastic parent and grandparents. The Pooh trustees join in celebrating the centenary of Winnie-the-Pooh and hope that readers young and old will continue to enjoy Milne’s whimsical humour, and the hums of Pooh, the innocence of Piglet, the world-weariness of Eeyore and the charms of all the other characters in the Pooh works and the half-dozen sequels which extend their adventures.”
For further press information contact Sofia Saghir at Riot Communications: Sofia@riotcommunications.com / 07888 673706.
Notes to Editors
About A.A. Milne
A.A. Milne was born in London in 1882. He began his literary career as editor of Granta magazine, and was assistant editor of Punch, later becoming a highly successful writer of plays, poems and novels. He based Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger, Kanga and Roo on the real nursery toys of his son Christopher Robin. In 1925, Winnie-the-Pooh made his first appearance in a Christmas story in the London Evening News. The following year, Winnie-the-Pooh was published and was an instant success, as was The House at Pooh Corner, in 1928. Since then, Pooh has become a world-famous bear, and Milne’s stories have been translated into seventy-two languages.
About E.H. Shepard
E.H. Shepard was born in London in 1879. He won a scholarship to the Royal Academy Schools and later worked as an artist, illustrator and cartoonist. Shepard’s witty and loving decorations of Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood have become an inseparable part of the Pooh stories, and classics in their own right.
About Farshore
Farshore’s mission is to make every child a proud reader through a broad and diverse portfolio of books that offers multiple ways into the joy of reading. Farshore publishes child-friendly books for all ages, including picture books and fiction, award-wining non-fiction on its Red Shed imprint, bestselling YA reads on its Electric Monkey imprint and immersive books on gaming, TV and film for adults and the whole family on its Expanse imprint. Farshore is home to the UK’s leading authors and illustrators, including Michael Morpurgo, Holly Jackson, Lemony Snicket, Julia Donaldson, Laura Ellen Anderson, Tahereh Mafi and B.B. Alston; family favourites including Winnie-the-Pooh, Mr. Men Little Miss, and Tintin; and the hottest popular culture brands, including Minecraft, Paw Patrol and Pokémon. Farshore is recognised for nurturing and building exciting new author and illustrator talent, for leading the children’s market in brand publishing, and for applying unique consumer and market insights to ensure every book reaches the widest possible audience.
About HarperCollins UK
HarperCollins UK is a division of HarperCollins Publishers, the second largest consumer book publisher in the world, with operations in 15 countries. With over two hundred years of history and more than 120 unique imprints around the world, HarperCollins publishes approximately 10,000 new books every year, in 16 languages, and has a print and digital catalogue of more than 200,000 titles. Writing across dozens of genres, HarperCollins authors include winners of the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the Newbery and Caldecott Medals and the Booker Prize. HarperCollins UK has offices in London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Honley and Manchester and can be found online at www.harpercollins.co.uk.
