Alan Alexander Milne (pronounced /ˈmɪln/) was an English author, best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh and for various children's poems.
A. A. Milne was born in Kilburn, London, to parents Vince Milne and Sarah Marie Milne (née Heginbotham) and grew up at Henley House School, 6/7 Mortimer Road (now Crescent), Kilburn, a small public school run by his father. One of his teachers was H. G. Wells who taught there in 1889–90. Milne attended Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied on a mathematics scholarship. While there, he edited and wrote for Granta, a student magazine. He collaborated with his brother Kenneth and their articles appeared over the initials AKM. Milne's work came to the attention of the leading British humour magazine Punch, where Milne was to become a contributor and later an assistant editor.
Milne joined the British Army in World War I and served as an officer in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and later, after a debilitating illness, the Royal Corps of Signals. He was discharged on February 14, 1919.
After the war, he wrote a denunciation of war titled Peace with Honour (1934), which he retracted somewhat with 1940's War with Honour. During World War II, Milne was one of the most prominent critics of English writer P. G. Wodehouse, who was captured at his country home in France by the Nazis and imprisoned for a year. Wodehouse made radio broadcasts about his internment, which were broadcast from Berlin. Although the light-hearted broadcasts made fun of the Germans, Milne accused Wodehouse of committing an act of near treason by cooperating with his country's enemy. Wodehouse got some revenge on his former friend by creating fatuous parodies of the Christopher Robin poems in some of his later stories, and claiming that Milne "was probably jealous of all other writers.... But I loved his stuff."
He married Dorothy "Daphne" de Sélincourt in 1913, and their only son, Christopher Robin Milne, was born in 1920. In 1925, A. A. Milne bought a country home, Cotchford Farm, in Hartfield, East Sussex. During World War II, A. A. Milne was Captain of the Home Guard in Hartfield & Forest Row, insisting on being plain 'Mr. Milne' to the members of his platoon. He retired to the farm after a stroke and brain surgery in 1952 left him an invalid and by August 1953 "he seemed very old and disenchanted".
This is the first proper book I read to my pregnant wife’s bump, ready for the baby now he’s grown ears in there. Not good at voices yet, need more practice
I forgot how much I loved this book. The best part is being the reader, as the misspelled words and placement of sentences are half the enjoyment. Kanga is one clever kangaroo.
Not sure if this story would pass muster these days. Rabbit, Pooh and Piglet are not happy with Kanga and Roo living in the forest. Thus they decide to kidnap Roo as part of a plot to get them to leave. Rabbit will take Roo and look after him while Piglet pretends to be Roo so that Kanga doesn't know, at least not at first. Of course this being a Winnie-the-Pooh story things don't go accordin to plan, especially for poor piglet when Kanga refuses to admit that he isn't Roo. It is unclear if she doesn't realize or if she does and just pretends she doesn't. Still it is a fun story. One amusing bit is when Christopher Robin is asked how Kanga and Roo came to the forest and his reply is "the usual way". Of course Pooh has no idea what Christopher Robin means but doesn't want to admit it. A good book for children, but be prepared in case someone asks you about kidnapping.
Apart from the abrupt ending and the weird way Kanga interacted with Piglet towards the end (not to mention the enigmatic Christopher Robin in the final pages), I really enjoyed this one and want to read all of them.
I’m so angry. They didn’t like the change of a new family in the wood, so they STOLE HER BABY to coerce her to leave! With different contexts for the reader, so changes the reading. My context is that of an Australian who grew up in a world of hidden history. Historical truth was inconvenient, and often presented as a sidenote to British history. So the ‘little trick’ others describe, for me speaks to so much more. British men taking away the child of an indigenous australian woman (Yes I mean Kanga), is a heavy and shameful part of our history. I’m so glad in the story Kanga could trust Christopher, and had the agency to respond with a ‘trick’ of her own. Anyway. Different contexts, different readings. I did not find this story funny, and though it was not the casual morning story I expected to share with my daughter, I’m glad we read it.
Don’t get me wrong, you’d be hard pressed to find someone who loves those who inhabit the hundred acre wood more than I. But for being a children’s book, it consisted of highly inappropriate themes for children. Mainly, kidnapping, lying, revenge — with hardly any morale or resolution to be found. A classic only by definition and not one I’ll likely read again.
Pooh, Rabbit and Piglet decide to play a trick on Kanga by putting Rabbit in Kanga's pouch and taking Baby Roo. However, the trick backfires when Kanga figures out what is really happening. This is a fun book for children and the pictures are adorable.
Enter the dark side of the Hundred Acre Wood. Threatened by the arrival of Kanga and Roo, the older residents hatch a kidnap plot to convince the interlopers to leave. But then, a mother’s love completely TURNS THE TABLES.
This was a brilliant book. The stakes were high and there was a plot and conflict. It was fun to read about Kanga’s cleverness, she is a very likable character. All of the shenanigans in this book were truly delightful, humorous, and very much worth the read!
How did I not remember this storyline? I've never thought of Kanga as being a particularly unique character but this has just changed my mind completely. I applaud Kanga's trolling here. Serves Piglet right! Also, Pooh's poem was quite something for a "bear of very little brain."
Ernest H. Shepard does a splendid job with the illustrations. I love how they add to Milne's narrative, which is easy to follow, simple, and easy to relate to younger readers.
This book is intended for the young reader to read. And by young reader I mean those old enough to be interested in Winnie the Pooh. I have a hard time believing this.
First, logistically this book is not suited for the young reader. It is tiny. The print is tiny. The pictures would not keep the young reader interested. I barely noticed them.
Now, as far as the story goes, the more I read about the world of Christopher Robin, the more I am convinced that the author is trying to describe the mind of a very disturbed child. Somewhere on the internet the characters in the Christopher Robin world were accurately described. Pooh was gluttony. Rabbit was Avorice. Piglet was Ignorance. Eoyre was depression. And Tiger was ADHD. And based on this story, I am starting to believe this. Let me explain.
This is a story of a newcomer to the Christopher Robin world. Kanga and her child Roo. The story starts off with prejudice. Rabbit comes up with a scheme to get rid of Kanga and Roo for no other reason that he doesn't like them because they are different. The others go along with this scheme because they don't know any better. What was the scheme? They planned to kidnap little Baby Roo so that Kanga would hate it here and leave. Two great traits to teach kids. Prejudice and Kidnapping!
Pooh uses deception to trick Kanga to look the other way while Rabbit kidnaps Roo. And it works. Piglet is used as the Roo substitute so that Kanga would be fooled.
Kanga, showed no emotion about worrying for her child and instead decides to plot revenge by torturing Piglet with a cold bath.
In the end, Christopher Robin comes to sort the whole mess out and everything goes back to normal and for punishment, on every Tuesday Rabbit has to babysit Roo. Kanga spent the day with Pooh teaching him how to jump and Piglet spent every Tuesday with Christopher Robin. The Author ends the story abruptly by stating that everyone was happy. But were they?
What did we learn here? That we don't like Kanga and Roo because they were different. We learned a good scheme to be able to kidnap someone. And when we have been tricked we learned that a good way to feel better about it is to get back at the people who tricked you.
The making of a great children's moral book (insert sarcasm). Makes me think of how many kids read books like these and internalized the information. Doesn't surprise me why some kids are assholes today! We have to be so careful as to what we feed our kids minds. My take is that either parents are not reading this material or are not intelligent enough to asses the true story even as it is hidden by cuteness.
Part of the original Winnie the Pooh Treasury set I got when my oldest was born. They are longer than the board books we have featuring Pooh and his friends, but are still great for young children.
For me this is a excellent story of meeting new friends and letting old friends and new friends get along together. It is also a story of sharing, and being open to new things, even though it maybe different from what you do.
This is my favorite of the Winnie-the-Pooh stories created by A.A. Milne. I enjoy the funny plan Rabbit comes up with to try and get Kanga and Roo to leave the forest. However, they all become friends and like each other instead of being afraid of each other.
Not bad, if you want ok kidnapping. :) Because it's a Pooh book, I let it slide, but I had to explain to my daughter why what they did was bad. If I had been Kanga, my reaction would have been less pretending and more