Reviews

When We Were Very Young by A.A. Milne

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pumpkinpielady's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

wanderingstories's review against another edition

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3.0

"And I'd say to myself as I looked so lazily down at the sea: 'There's nobody else in the world, and the world was made for me.'"

This is a 'close' to liking rating, 2.85* to be precise. If that matters or not. I actually think there should be a better 'star rating' than this. I didn't realise this was a poetry book for children. Oh, well. I'm not really into poetry but I thought this was all right.

Spring Morning
Where am I going? I don't quite know.
What does it matter where people go? (I agree)
Down to the wood where the blue-bells grow -
Anywhere, anywhere. I don't know."

chaser's review against another edition

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I liked the poetry. Yet again. Can't put a rating on my childhood

estherfilbrun's review against another edition

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5.0

One of my top favorite audiobook discoveries in recent years is Winnie the Pooh from the perspective of the excellent narration of Peter Dennis. My siblings and I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Winnie the Pooh and all the other characters through his work, and I don’t think it would be wrong to say that the Pooh series is our favorite audiobook right now. Somewhere along the line, I picked up one of A. A. Milne’s collections of poetry, and that became a personal favorite. But when I saw that Peter Dennis had also read those aloud, I knew I wanted to try it—and oh, what a treat awaited me! I spent a delightful several hours recently listening to him reading the poems aloud, and I’m sure I’ll pick them up again sometime. He has a way of adding life to the poetry beyond what’s already there—a certain love and tenderness that I don’t always pick up on just by reading the text.

This isn’t supposed to be the review of a narrator, though, so I’ll move on to the poetry itself. These two books are beautiful pieces of work. Playful, inspirational, heart-felt, and insightful, there’s something here that would appeal to just about every age and stage. Hearing them all together, I got a little peek into A. A. Milne’s heart and love for his son. As the books go on, Christopher Robin is obviously growing and learning more about his world, and I had to wonder—as I went through the different poems—if this wasn’t Milne’s way to preserve a little piece of his son while he was still young. I could easily imagine Christopher Robin arranging his chairs in a row and pretending they were different continents, or watching the raindrops race down a window, pretending it was a real race, or kneeling by his bed praying the words that ended up in the poem. It felt realistic, delightful, and fun. This is a lovely set of poems, ones I hope to share with children I know in the future. If you enjoy children and poetry, you’ll probably enjoy these books.