When We Were Very Young

Milne, A.  (1924).  When we were very young.  New York, NY:  Penguin Group.

Winnie the Pooh.  Christopher Robin.  The 100 Acre Wood.  These are the words that I have always associated with stories by A. A. Milne.  So, when a friend recommended a poetry book by Milne, I was a little reluctant to read it. But trusting my friend and his knowledge of my reading taste, I tried it. I expected Tigger and Pooh to rhyme away the stories.  However, that is not what I found!
 
While the cover is somewhat reminiscent of the watercolor pictures of the stories I'm so familiar with, there is a difference.  The little girl on the front is not anyone we are familiar with, she's new, at least to us!  And of course, the little girl appears to be misbehaving.  Again, another first for me.  The drawings inside the book are simple, pen and ink drawings that let your imagination take shape.  So, I plunged in!

This collection of poems is about children, for children.  They are growing up in an ordinary world, but they have a way of seeing the world in a much more magical way than we do as adults.  The meaning in these poems describes everyday activities that children go through...going on walks, saying their prayers, going to the zoo, pretending they are kings, etc.  Milne uses narrative poems such as "The King's Breakfast" to tell a tale of asking for butter for breakfast and the chain of events that follow.   Additionally, Milne uses sound patterns in poems like "Independence", "Politeness" and "Halfway Down."  Words and phrases are repeated for effect, both to reinforce how much emphasis the reader needs to know about the action being performed or the feeling being described. 

While being a 'fun' read for children and adults alike, the poems also lend themselves to critical thinking, such different and same.  In the poem, "Halfway Down," the child talking in the poem is describing the stairs. They always stop at the one that is halfway down.

 

Halfway down the stairs

Is a stair

Where I sit.

There isn't any

Other stair

Quite like

It.

I'm not at the bottom,

I'm not at the top;

So this is the stair

Where

I always

Stop.

Halfway up the stairs

Isn't up,

And isn't down.

It isn't the nursery,

It isn't in the town.

And all sorts of funny thoughts

Run round my head:

"It isn't really

Anywhere!

It's somewhere else

Instead!"

 

 

This poem allows critical thinking questions like, "Is there a difference in the stairs?"  "Can you tell the difference?"  "Does stair location change the 'sitter's' perspective?"  This allows for identifying perspectives and acknowledging the same and different.

 

These are the types of poems that children can enjoy and appreciate as read-aloud poems.  They make great bedtime traditions, allowing for enjoyment by adults reading to their children, recalling being read to as children themselves.  The poems are well-written, easily understood and have a quality of 'real life situations' that children and adults can enjoy.