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Dec 26, 2018 · On publication 110 years ago, The Wind in the Willows – Grahame’s only full-length fiction – was met with lukewarm, even hostile reviews. Memorably, the Times Literary Supplement dismissed it as ‘nonsense of poor quality’ and ‘as a contribution to natural history… negligible’.
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The Wind in the Willows, book of linked animal tales by British writer Kenneth Grahame that began as a series of bedtime stories for his son and was published in 1908. The beautifully written work, with its evocative descriptions of the countryside interspersed with exciting adventures, became a classic of English children’s literature.
The tales relate the adventures of several animal friends and neighbours in the English countryside—primarily Mole, Rat, Toad, and Badger. Although the animals converse, philosophize, and behave like humans, each creature also retains its distinctive animal habits. The story begins when Mole decides to go to the riverbank one morning rather than do his spring cleaning. There he comes across his friend Rat, a water rat, and they spend the spring and summer together. One day they visit the irrepressible, generous, and boastful Mr. Toad, owner of Toad Hall, who possesses large amounts of money but not much brain. Toad is given to fads, and Mole and Rat join him in an excursion in his present enthusiasm, a horse-drawn caravan (a cart with beds and cooking equipment), until a speeding automobile frightens the horse and wrecks the caravan. Toad is mesmerized by the car. Mole and Rat later go to the Wild Wood to visit the kindly and responsible Badger, to whom they report that Toad has bought and smashed several automobiles.
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The three friends attempt an intervention, to prevent Toad from buying and wrecking more motorcars. Despite their efforts to contain him, Toad escapes, and, when he encounters an unattended car, he steals it. Inevitably, he is caught and sent to prison. However, the jailer’s daughter takes pity on him and helps him escape. After many further adventures, Toad is at last rescued by Rat. He learns that in his absence, Toad Hall has been taken over by weasels and stoats, but Badger knows that Toad Hall has a secret tunnel entrance, and the interlopers are evicted in a climactic battle, followed by a celebratory banquet.
Shortly after retiring as secretary of the Bank of England, Grahame published The Wind in the Willows. Although initially met with mixed reviews, the book quickly became popular. Its fans included U.S. Pres. Theodore Roosevelt and English writer A.A. Milne, the latter of whom extracted Toad’s adventures for the play Toad of Toad Hall (1929), the fi...
The novel was based on bedtime stories Grahame told his son Alastair. It has been adapted numerous times for both stage and screen. The Wind in the Willows received negative reviews upon its initial release, but it has since become a classic of British literature.
- Kenneth Grahame
- 1908
The Killing of Mr Toad re-visits Kenneth Grahame's timeless classic, The Wind in the Willows and tells the powerful and moving story behind it. 1934. Elspeth Grahame, elderly widow of Kenneth Grahame, lives alone, rarely washing, barely eating.
The Wind in the Willows is Kenneth Grahame’s most famous book, but it wasn’t his first. Prior to publishing it, Grahame published The Golden Age and Dream Days , collections of short stories and childhood recollections intended for young readers.
Jan 6, 2021 · Alastair Grahame was four years old when his father Kenneth — then a secretary at the Bank of England — began inventing bedtime stories about the reckless ruffian, Mr Toad, and his...
Literary retellings focus on the book’s class and gender issues, although the tales originated simply as bedtime stories for Grahame’s son Alastair. Read the full book summary, the full book analysis, and explanations of important quotes from The Wind in the Willows.
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