I somehow managed to miss out on Dahl, and neither have I read the Chocolate Wars — for some reason, a lot of my early literary exposure was very Anglophilic and much of it dated from my own parents' childhoods'.

But I digress.

In saying, "The beauty of Milne's work and all goods children's literature is that it doesn't condescend," you hit the nail on the proverbial head. Good children's literature is, of necessity, simplified, but it isn't simple. And I ought to check out Dahl, I think.