I have just brought Milne's exquisite book for my daughter's sixth birthday as my father did for me and his father for him and she has already fallen in love with King John, the Good and Bad Bears and Shepherd's ever delightful illustrations and enjoys reading the classic poems to her array of bedtime toys as much as hearing them herself. These are not just cutes rhymes for those too young to have learnt discernment, Milne is a genius when it comes to choice of topic - as appealing to children now as it was four generations ago - and of using the essential 3R's of any classic for young children: repetition, rhythm and rhyme.
That other essential element required to male a child's book "classic" - that adults must enjoy reading it themselves - is also present; it was lovely to hear again the old favourites and to see the pleasure I felt at six reflected in the face of my own offspring. This book is a must for any family's bookshelf, as is its 'prequel' "When We Were Very Young". Make sure you but the hardback though, by the time my two younger brothers had passed six years, my own paperback had disintegrated with overuse.