The Wind in the Willows
The Wind in the Willows is a children's novel by Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. Alternately slow moving and fast paced, it focuses on four anthropomorphised animals in a pastoral version of England. The novel is notable for its mixture of mysticism, adventure, morality, and camaraderie and celebrated for its evocation of the nature of the Thames valley. In 1908 Grahame retired from his position as secretary of the Bank of England. He moved back to Cookham, Berkshire, where he had been brought up and spent his time by the River Thames doing much as the animal characters in his book do-namely, as one of the phrases from the book says, "simply messing about in boats"-and wrote down the bed-time stories he had been telling his son Alistair.
BUY THE BOOK
Community Reviews
The same fab story, with a twist that the pronouns have been changed, making it a story of female friendship and union. Girls supporting girls.
Loved that.
It was such a pleasure to come back to The Wind in the Willows as an adult. It was not a favourite of mine as a child, and I am not sure I have ever read the full version, but this abridged edition has been thoughtfully put together with beautiful illustrations and enough of the text to capture the original style and content. Kenneth Grahame writes so visually and poetically, transporting his readers into the magical world of Mole, Ratty, Badge and Toad. I was reading it with my six year old and, as much as he loved the characters and stories, he sometimes struggled to engage with the longer, more detailed descriptions and to comprehend the older-style language and vocabulary. Still wonderful though and I hope to revisit with him when he is a little older.
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.