Illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard, the poems centre around young people who are in charge of their own lives and worlds. They are whimsical and very Carroll-esque in their magical and lyrical prowess. Some are droll, however, but most are nice. This book #3 in the Pooh series is a collection of poems. The poems are silly and don’t really go together. The author, A.A. Milne states in the introduction that these poems came to him while on walks with Christopher Robin. Reading this, I remember years ago when I would plop my butt down on the shaggy carpet in front of the television at eight in the morning to see what they were up to, the Heffalumps were out then. In that particular corner of my memory it’s always sunny and airy and a little gusty. I wasn't a huge fan of the poems, actually, so that really made the reading a bit tough to enjoy. I also wasn't completely enamored with the illustrations. They were well done, don't get me wrong, they just weren't my style or something that really appealed to me.

This looks like a terrific book for young children. They will enjoy the rhythm of the poems and the lively illustrations.

The funny thing during that party was that we latter found out that the one asking the question also did not know the answer. The nation’s favourite teddy bear has been delighting generations of children for over 95 years. Milne’s classic children’s stories – featuring Piglet, Eeyore, Christopher Robin and, of course, Pooh himself – are gently humorous while teaching lessons about friendship and kindness. Premise/plot: This new book is not a reprint of the whole collection of poems originally published as When We Were Very Young. The original collection first published in 1924, had over forty poems. (If and only if I counted correctly 43???) This new picture book newly illustrated by Rosemary Wells (THE Rosemary Wells!!!) has a fraction of the poems. It has twelve poems. What a delightful little poetry book! I came across this by chance in the school’s old library a few days ago. I grew up with Winnie The Pooh, though I don’t see Disney rerunning any of the old episodes except only the occasional full length movie, it’s sad really. Teddy Bear and Other Songs; & Fourteen Songs from When We Were Very Young; & ÂSongs from Now We are Six; Â3 volumes.

Milne also published poetry for adults, including Behind the Lines (1940) and The Norman Church (1948). He wrote three nonfiction books on war and pacifism, Peace with Honour (1934), War with Honour (1940), and War Aims Unlimited (1941), as well as the autobiographies When I Was Very Young (1930) and It’s Too Late Now: The Autobiography of a Writer (1939), and the essay collection Year In, Year Out (1952). This one doesn't have *all* the poems I loved from the original book. It's not that the original book was my favorite and best book ever--it wasn't. Between Milne's two poetry books, I found a dozen poems (perhaps a few more) to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. Poems that really became a part of my childhood. The rest, well, the rest just were... That being said, I did have some favorite poems. My favorites were: Water Lilies*, The Alchemist, and Teddy Bear. Extraordinarily funny and cute, When We Were Very Young features a variety of poems by A. A. Milne. One of them first introduces us to Winnie-the-Pooh. My Mom would kneel with me at the foot of my bed and sing this to me and when I was old enough we would say it together.But among the 44 poems in this book, I remember I read some like “Jonathan Joe” and I thought I liked it because of the relationship between Jonathan and his grandpa. I remember I could not understand “Little Bo-Peep and Little Boy Blue” like who between the two lost the sheep and how they ended up marrying each other. “What’s marry?” I remember asking my sister and I thought marrying was like the two of us being together most of the time. Among her 3 brothers, I am the one closest to my sister so she is always ready to lend me money even up to now ha ha.

Published two years before Winnie-the-Pooh, When We Were Very Young is the first of A. A. Milne's delightful verse collections. A celebration of childhood, these poems have been read and re-read for generations, touching the hearts of children and their families for almost a hundred years. Milne's treasured poems are perfectly matched by Ernest Shepard's whimsical illustrations. I've never read any Winnie-the-Pooh books but am extremely aware of what it's about. These are poems from the same author and they are extremely hit-and-miss, but those that hit are utterly wonderful.When We Were Young by A. A. Milne is composed of endearing 44 poems for children. Some of these poems I thought I heard when I was a young boy in the Pacific island. But at that time, I neither had knowledge of who A. A. Milne was nor I did have any interest on English poems. What I and my friends were singing were local poems like the very funny ”Tong-tong-tong paketong-ketong/ Alimango sa dagat…” or the funnier ”Lumakad sya sa tubig, ang paa ay nabasa… Nguni’t ang kanyang *beep-beep* ay hindi nababasa” or the one where you have to go inside the circle and dance ”Bubuka ang bulaklak…” or when we grew a bit older, the double-meaning ”Si Haring Solomon, may alagang pagong/ May biyak sa likod parang pinalakol…”