1924 was the year Alan Alexander Milne published When We Were Very Young, the first in a steady stream of classics featuring some of the most charming characters in the history of British literature. In it, illustrator Ernest H. Shepard defines the visual trajectory of Winnie-the-Pooh for a century and beyond, and we meet Christopher Robin, a tiny chap bursting with enthusiasm to explore the great big world. He is our guide through most of the poems in this book, and his energy quickly gets the reader into the spirit of the narrative.
Christopher Robin enjoys a stroll with Alice, his nurse, to Buckingham Palace in one of the book's first poems. He has fun with animals indoors and out, cavorts with fairies, and ventures outside to claim his share of independence. How far might he travel someday to see the world? In the poem Market Square, he goes to market with a few small coins, asking vendors if they have a rabbit for sale. None do, and when Christopher Robin takes his leave and sits on the common surrounded by wild rabbits, he realizes that life's sweetest gifts aren't sold in a store. Once winter drifts languidly into spring, Christopher Robin flies a kite, and later imagines sailing a ship to an island of his very own. In Politeness the boy observes that adults are always exchanging pleasantries, but he would sometimes rather not participate. I think everyone sees a bit of themselves in Christopher Robin's earnest admissions. He then has fun out and about with Jonathan Jo, who gives generously to the youngster without expecting money in return.
A boy searches for his lost pet mouse, asking Uncle John and Aunt Rose if they know where he is. The King and Queen have a fancy breakfast, though it's difficult for the King to get what he wants to eat, and Christopher Robin continues his whimsical fun in Hoppity. Summer is exciting; Christopher Robin can't help getting sand between his toes when he plays at the seashore. Halfway Down shows us a boy sitting in the middle of a staircase, pondering the peculiarity of doing so. Where is he when he sits right here? He's somewhere in-between top and bottom, between here and there. Occasionally it does one good to spend a few moments in limbo and simply think. Emmeline is a girl with messy hands, who appeals to an authoritative source to prove they aren't messy. And then we have Teddy Bear, perhaps the highlight of this book, the introduction of a bear of very little brain, named Edward. He frets over his portliness, unsure if a round tummy is at all becoming, but a special stranger shows up to reassure him. Edward Bear would return in many A.A. Milne books, known by a new name. Silliness follows with Sir Brian Botany, a knight, and Christopher Robin considers what it will be like to grow up. The last poem is Vespers, as the boy kneels by his bed for prayers and settles in to sleep ahead of another action-packed day. In the real world Christopher Robin Milne grew up, but in the pages of his father's books he remains an innocent, imaginative child forever.
When We Were Very Young isn't as insightful as the poetry of Shel Silverstein or Jack Prelutsky, but as an early glimpse into A.A. Milne's storytelling career it's a worthwhile read, and some of the poems are thoughtful as well as humorous. Childhood in the 1920s appears superficially different than decades or centuries later, but its heart is the same, and for one hundred pages this book allows kids young and old to feel the same age. That's a fine accomplishment for any author.