''Now We Are Six'' is a book of thirty-five children's verses by

A. A. Milne Alan Alexander Milne (; 18 January 1882 – 31 January 1956) was an English writer best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh, as well as for children's poetry. Milne was primarily a playwright before the huge success of Winni ...

, with illustrations by E. H. Shepard. It was first published in 1927 including poems such as "King John's Christmas", "Binker" and "Pinkle Purr". Eleven of the poems in the collection are accompanied by illustrations featuring

Winnie-the-Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. The first collection of stories about the character w ...

. These are: "The Charcoal Burner", "Us Two", "The Engineer", "Furry Bear", "Knight-in-armour", "The Friend", "The Morning Walk", "Waiting at the Window", "Forgotten", "In the Dark" and "The End". It includes an endearing introduction by the author speaking in his six year old voice reflecting on, and perhaps rationalising, the 'babyish' subjects of his early verse. The

cognitive psychologist Cognitive psychology is the scientific study of mental processes such as attention, language use, memory, perception, problem solving, creativity, and reasoning. Cognitive psychology originated in the 1960s in a break from behaviorism, which he ...

George Miller has argued that the poem "In the Dark" was inspired by

crib talk Crib talk or crib speech is pre-sleep monologue made by young children while in bed. This starts somewhere around one-and-a-half years and usually ends by about two-and-a-half years of age, though children can continue longer.Weir RH. (1962). Lang ...

.Miller, G. (1962) Foreword by a psychologist, pp. 13-17, In Weir RH. (1962). Language in the Crib. University of Michigan; Edition 2, (1970) Mouton. Around 1930, the soprano Mimi Crawford recorded several of the poems, set to music. The 78rpm shellac record (HMV B2678) includes "Sneezles", "The Friend", "The Emperor's Rhyme" and "Furry Bear". The music is by Harold Fraser-Simson (1872–1944) who also composed the music for ''Toad of Toad Hall'' in 1929. ''Now We Are Six'' was parodied with the (2003) book ''Now We Are Sixty'' and by an anthology of horror-themed poems titled '' Now We Are Sick'' (an anthology by

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...

* Solitude * King John's Christmas * Busy * Sneezles * Binker * Cherry Stones * The Knight Whose Armour Didn't Squeak * Buttercup Days * The Charcoal-Burner * Us Two * The Old Sailor * The Engineer * Journey's End * Furry Bear * Forgiven * The Emperor's Rhyme * Knight-in-Armour * Come Out with Me * Down by the Pond * The Little Black Hen * The Friend * The Good Little Girl * A Thought * King Hilary and The Beggarman * Swing Song * Explained * Twice Times * The Morning Walk * Cradle Song * Waiting at The Window * Pinkle Purr * Wind on the Hill * Forgotten * In the Dark * The End

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1927 children's books 1927 poetry books British children's books Winnie-the-Pooh books Poetry by A. A. Milne Children's poetry books English poetry collections Books illustrated by E. H. Shepard Methuen Publishing books

Contents

See also

References

External links