Winnie-the-Pooh was initially a gruff-looking 'Growler'

An unpublished sketch from the 1920s shows that Winnie-the-Pooh - the iconic cuddly teddy that is a favourite among kids across the world - was initially a gruff-looking bear called Growler.
A new book, Art of Winnie-the-Pooh, contains more than 150 images sketched by illustrator EH Shepard, out of which 80 have never been seen or published before.
The book reveals the genesis of Shepard's illustrations of the world's most beloved teddy bear, as well as the correspondence and collaboration with AA Milne - the author of Winnie-the-Pooh - that went into the bear's creation.
The documents were found by James Campbell, who is married to Shepard's great-granddaughter and runs his estate.

"We started looking through this supposed pile of rubbish, and discovered all sorts of preparatory drawings and sketches for Winnie-the-Pooh, early drafts and autobiographical material," Campbell told 'The Guardian'.
They even discovered what is believed to be the first drawing of Milne's Bear of Very Little Brain.

"Must be one of the very earliest complete iterations of Winnie-the-Pooh, drawn as just a few lines of soft pencil, holding what looks like a barrel, which was surely to become a jar of honey," Campbell said.
The book also shows how the look of Pooh developed: as is widely known, Shepard was inspired by Milne's son's toy bear, but the soft toy did not have the right appearance.

"Both he and AA Milne realised that Christopher Robin's bear was too gruff-looking, not very cuddly, so they decided they would have to have a different bear for the illustrations," Campbell said.
"When Shepard got home, he remembered his son had a teddy bear, so he drew this bear and sent it to Milne, who said it was perfect. So the illustration is actually based on a bear called Growler," Campbell added.