A.A. Milne – Another Nu to Yu Book Treasure Find

We are lucky enough to have a little cabin on Pender Island, one of BC’s Southern Gulf Islands. Especially lucky because on said island is the fabulous, volunteer-run store called “Nu to Yu.” It sells exactly what their phonetically named place suggests: Used items, donated by people in the community, that for the purchaser will be – well – nu to yu. All of the money raised goes back into community projects. It’s brilliant. It’s also only open on Fridays and Saturdays, and whenever we are over there we make a point of dropping in. Son buys clothing, most of which he wears “ironically.” If he isn’t with us, I sometimes try to buy him an item I think I’ll like. On occasion I am bang-on, like with this ball cap:

Sometimes I am way off the mark:

Husband and I usually go straight for the books. We have both found great reads there, whether it be a ten cent mystery (yes – they charge ten cents for paperbacks) or a twenty-five cent hardcover. I was “introduced” to Dominick Dunne at Nu to Yu. Once, to my chagrin, I found a mint-condition hardcover of “Word Nerd” (written by MOI). I bought it for a quarter and added it to my small stash for school visit giveaways.

Last summer, as I blogged about here, I came across a dog-eared copy of “Harriet the Spy,” which I re-read for the first time since I’d originally read it at age 11. It blew me away all over again, and I realized the enormous debt I owed to Louise Fitzhugh.

This past weekend I found another treasure. I don’t owe an enormous debt to this man in the same way (as in, I don’t think he influenced my writing style, whereas Louise F clearly did), but I am forever grateful for the powerful beauty and rhythm of his poems, a bucketful of fond childhood memories, and the many ways he activated my imagination. Here is the book.

I’m sure many of you grew up having someone read you these wonderful poems by A.A. Milne, or at least, I hope you did. This book is a double volume of all the poems from “When We Were Young” and “Now We Are Six.” But it was the inside of this book – worn, as you can see – that delivered a special surprise.

There are a series of full color illustrations by E.H. Shepard that are utterly charming. I still have my falling-apart copies of these books, but sans color illustrations.

As I started to re-read the poems, I was transported back in time, to my grandparents’ farm, where my grandma or my mother would read to me. Do any of you remember this one?

The rhythm of his poetry is sheer brilliance. Also, so many of the poems are imbued with a sense of naughtiness, of the silliness of adults. One that had a profound impact on me as a kid was this one:

The thing is … James James Morrison Morrison’s mother DOES go down to the end of town, without him … and she is never seen again!! As a child growing up with my single parent mom, that one gave me the chills.

Does anyone else remember King John?

He wasn’t a good man, but all he wanted for Christmas was a big red India-rubber ball. As you can tell, these poems transported me back in time. I was reminded that I used to recite this one to my son when he was little (pre-Ernie’s Trucking hat).

The book smells musty, as it should. I will treasure it. It’s also where the infamous Pooh Bear is first introduced to the world. This is the inscription in the book:

I’ve often wondered if it was hard for Christopher Milne to be forever known as Christopher Robin, frozen in time, with his Pooh Bear … I think he has written about it – perhaps now I need to seek out that book.

Now I wonder … what WILL I find at “Nu to Yu” next summer?