A New Pal for Pooh
By Dave Itzkoff writing in The New York Times,October 1, 2009,

Left -Mark Burgess/Dutton Children’s Books Lottie the Otter will make her debut in “Return to the Hundred Acre Woods.”

When the first new authorized tale of Winnie-the-Pooh in more than 80 years is released on Monday, the book will introduce a new, female character to that bothersome bear’s mostly male entourage.

The new character, called Lottie the Otter, will make her debut in “Return to the Hundred Acre Wood,” written by David Benedictus and illustrated by Mark Burgess, and approved by the Pooh Trustees.

In a news release, the Dutton Children’s Books imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group, which is releasing the book on Oct. 5, described Lottie as “a smart and elegant character” who is “always dressed in pearls,” and who “has her own ideas about how things should be done and believes that everyone should follow the correct etiquette.” In the course of “Return to the Hundred Acre Wood,” the publisher said, Lottie takes a swim in Christopher Robin’s bath, helps to set up a school for the denizens of the Hundred Acre Wood, and turns out to be great at cricket.
Penguin Young Readers Group said that it would unveil a new permanent mural in honor of the original stuffed animals that inspired A. A. Milne’s “Winnie-the-Pooh” and other books, and which are kept int he New York Public Library’s Children Center. That unveiling is to take place on Monday, also at the Children’s Center.

Footnote - Published by Hardie Grant Egmont in UK/Commonwealth.

Link here for report on that edition.