Published in 1927 this is the third children’s book by Milne, published after the success of Winnie the Pooh. Now We Are Six contains thirty five verses, with more E. H. Shepard illustrations to accompany them.
The poems have inspired many others; around 1930 Mimi Crawford recorded several poems with music by Harold Fraser-Simson, the title is played upon with the 2003 book Now We Are Sixty, and an anthology by Neil Gaiman called Now We Are Sick. The short “A Poem Is…” was also inspired by one of Milne’s poems entitled “Us Two”.
Illustrations of Winnie the Pooh accompany 11 of the poems, and he is a much stronger focus than he was in the earlier poetry book.
Both this book plus When We Were Very Young were popular during the 1920s and 1930s, and popularity surged again after Milne’s death. Christopher Robin even recorded some of the poems at the suggestion of his mother; this however resulted in incredible bullying for Christopher Robin at school.
Below is a full list of the poems included in this book. You can read these poems and more here.
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
Lost in a Good Book 