The King's Breakfast

Story

The King wants ‘some butter for the Royal slice of bread’. His request passes from the Queen to the Dairymaid to the Alerderney cow who sleepily suggests that he has marmalade instead. But the King is so distressed that the cow eventually relents, and the King gets some butter after all.

Why we chose it

Milne’s endearing story poem, written nearly a century ago, is still enjoyed by young children. Its lively rhythm and rhyme make it easy to memorise and a pleasure to read aloud. While some modern readers find Milne’s nursery world too cute and antiquated, many others love his gentle humour and obvious delight in the details of childhood, like the importance of butter on your bread.

Where it came from

Alan Alexander Milne was a successful novelist, playwright and writer for Punch magazine. Inspired by moments from the life of his young son, Christopher Robin, Milne began writing humorous poems, which were illustrated with line drawings by artist and cartoonist Ernest Shephard. Some of these were first published in Punch and in a children’s magazine The Merry-Go-Round before appearing in When We Were Very Young, Milne’s first collection of poems.

Where it went next

When We Were Very Young was immediately popular and has remained in print ever since. The Kings Breakfast and other poems from the book were set to music by H Fraser-Simpson in 1925.

In 1963 The Kings Breakfast was expanded into a comedy film with dance and mime, a starry cast and designs by cartoonist Ronald Searle. And in 1976 it was performed by supermodel, Twiggy, on The Muppet Show.

Milne’s distinctive humour and turns of phrase continue to echo through the work of much-loved modern writers from children’s author Katherine Rundell to screen writer Richard Curtis.

Associated stories

Milne wrote a second volume of poetry Now We Are Six in 1927 as well as his two Winnie the Pooh storybooks, Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner.