Last night before I went to bed, I read that it was A. A. Milne’s birthday – January 18, 1882. I have always been a huge fan and still count “Now We Are Six” as one of my favorite books. It was given to me as a gift when I turned six and it has been a gift that I give to the six year olds in my life.
It is filled with smart and witty poetry on many topics that children (and child-like adults) love to read about – kings and dragons, shipwrecks and friendships, fooling adults and questioning adults. Most of the poems are long-ish stories and are begging to be read aloud. For example:
Sneezles
Christopher Robin
Had wheezles
And sneezles,
They bundled him
Into
His bed.
They gave him what goes
With a cold in the nose,
And some more for a cold
in the head.
They wondered
If wheezles
Could turn
Into measles,
If sneezles
Would turn
Into mumps;
They examined his chest
For a rash,
And the rest
Of his body for swellings and lumps.
Don’t you want to know what happens? There are four more stanzas of the poem and a clever, funny ending. Ah. Good stuff. The Knight Whose Armour Didn’t Squeak, King John’s Christmas, The Old Sailor, and King Hillary and the Beggarman are all great stories, and the list goes on. I’m sure I appreciate it more now than I did when I was six. I know I included a few of the poems in my “poetry notebooks” in 9th and 10th grades, favorite poems we collected and illustrated (by cutting up old greeting cards and magazines – remember those pre-clip-art days?).
I also remember back when the internet was brand new finding a game of Pooh Sticks online and being so happy that I would be able to look at classic Pooh illustrations and learn about the man who wrote these books.
Does anyone else have a love of A. A. Milne’s work? What is your favorite?
Off to read!
Related articles
- Happy Winnie the Pooh Day! (rochpublibrary.wordpress.com)
- On January 18th (willhumes.net)
- E.H. Shepard (inkypenline.wordpress.com)
Walkie Talkie Book Club 