When Harry Colebourn saw a baby bear for sale at the train station, he knew he could care for it. Harry was a veterinarian. But he was also a soldier in training for World War I. Harry named the bear Winnie, short for Winnipeg, his company's home town, and he brought her along to the training camp in England.

This book recounts the true story that inspired the Winnie-the-Pooh classics, following the World War I veterinarian and soldier who rescued a baby bear, made her his regiment's mascot, and took her to the London Zoo, where she met Christopher Robin.