Now We Are Six

"as charming today as when it was originally published . . . a true treasure."

This delightful book of poems by the author of the beloved Winnie the Pooh books is as charming today as it when it was originally published in 1927. Milne has a wonderful sense of a child's world and brings it to life in these pages. Pooh and Christopher Robin appear as do many other characters who will be less familiar to readers but are equally endearing.

One poem plays with the different identities a child tries on:

"I think I am an Elephant

Behind another Elephant

Behind another Elephant who isn't really there. . . .

I think I am a Ticket Man who's selling tickets­­—please,

I think I am a Doctor who is visiting a Sneeze."

Another turns a rainy day into a game of watching raindrops race down a window. Naturally, the raindrops are given names, John and James.

"John is moving off at last.

James is going pretty fast.

John is rushing down the pane.

James is going slow again.

James has met a sort of smear.

John is getting very near.

Is he going fast enough?

(James has found a piece of fluff.)"

You'll have to read the rest of the poem to find out who wins the race—and if the sun comes out.

Shepard, master of the lively line, illustrated The Wind in the Willows. The line drawings by Shepard have humor, energy, and personality, complementing perfectly the verses they accompany. Together the words and pictures offer miniature stories and jokes, little worlds to spark young imaginations. The whole is packaged in a comfortably small book that can easily be held by younger readers. This classic is a true treasure, one that should engage a whole new generation of eager readers and show them the pleasures of a well-made book.