Poems from When We Were Very Young

by A. A. Milne, Rosemary Wells (Compiler)

Overview

A contemporary master of the nursery tale brings her unique imagination to a beloved classic.

First published in 1924—two years before Winnie-the-Pooh—A. A. Milne’s When We Were Very Young is among the most familiar and cherished works in children’s literature. A whimsical celebration of childhood, Milne wrote the collection for his three-year-old son, and the poems have been read and sung to children for decades since. Now, Rosemary Wells brings her signature cast of animal and child characters to a dozen of Milne’s best-loved poems, including “Disobedience,” “The King’s Breakfast,” and “Buckingham Palace” (which stars the one and only Christopher Robin). This musical and memorable edition is by turns traditional and modern, with both delightful charm and wry sensibility.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781324016533
Publisher:	Norton Young Readers
Publication date:	10/26/2021
Pages:	80
Sales rank:	376,159
Product dimensions:	10.20(w) x 11.40(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Rosemary Wells is a children’s book author and illustrator known for her Max & Ruby series and Mother Goose illustrations. She lives in Connecticut and spends time with her two daughters and five granddaughters.

Hometown:

Cotchford Farm, Sussex, England

Date of Birth:

January 18, 1882

Date of Death:

January 31, 1956

Place of Birth:

Hampstead, London

Place of Death:

Cotchford Farm, Sussex, England

Education:

Trinity College, Cambridge University (mathematics), 1903

Website:

http://www.penguinputnam.com

Editorial Reviews

2021-09-24
Having put her own spin on traditional nursery rhymes in My Very First Mother Goose(1986) and Here Comes Mother Goose(1999), both edited by Iona Opie, Wells now interprets some of Milne’s children’s verse.

Where the original title had 44 poems, some confined to a page and others extending to a handful, with Ernest Shepard’s illustrations acting mostly as decoration, Wells here presents 13, many sprawling over several pages and accompanied by bright, busy illustrations that turn each one into a narrative. When James James Morrison Morrison Weatherby George Dupree’s mother goes “down to the edge of the town” without him in “Disobedience,” she hops into a black London cab driven by a rabbit, stops to make a call from a red phone box, and comes home in a different cab (driven by a cat) with a white terrier puppy for her son. Meanwhile, wee James telephones some nine people, including the royal family, with Wells’ interpolated dialogue presented in speech balloons. There’s so much side business the propulsive silliness of the original rhyme gets lost. Shorter poems, such as “Independence” and “Happiness” (both of which involve independent-thinking cat children), fare better, and sequential illustrations for “The King’s Breakfast” work well to convey the many back-and-forths endured by the Dairymaid. Most humans present White, though there are characters of color (including, a bit oddly, Christopher Robin).

A bright grab bag. (glossary) (Poetry. 3-5)

Kirkus Reviews