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POPSWinnie-the-Pooh returns with Eeyore in a better mood more at source: Eeyore, like all Milne's characters was based on a toy once owned by his son, Christopher Robin. The toy donkey was given as a Christmas present but over the years the stuffed animal's neck lost its stiffness, taking on a morose appearance which inspired Milne's character. The new book of stories takes on where Milne left off at the end of his final Pooh tale, The House at Pooh Corner, published in 1928. There Christopher Robin was preparing to go to boarding school, leaving his woodland companions to continue their adventures without him. The Return to the Hundred Acre Wood, an extract of which is published today in The Sunday Telegraph, sees Christopher Robin returning from school for his summer holidays to play with his friends.