The Wind in the Willows (Calla Editions)

This is a must have for any reader who is a fan of this adorable classic. I actually have two other editions of this book, but I wanted this one too because the art is so beautiful! There are black and white drawings throughout that are so cozy and sweet. There are also several full page paintings of the characters that are just gorgeous.

🐀BOOK REVIEW / “The Wind In The Willows”/ by Kenneth Grahame🦡 ___ Genre: Fairytale Pages: 197 Language: English Publisher: ebook Release date: 1908 _____ 🐸Reading this book was like coming back home after a long trip on an old boat in the company of good old friends. _____ 🦦The Plot: Brilliant and sweet fairytale is about little Mole, Rat, Badger, and Toad. Even though the book was initially published in 1908, it still manages to captivate and win readers’ hearts—the timeless fairytale about friendship, folly, wily, and life wisdom. _____ 🐀The Writing Style: I enjoyed reading this brilliant fairytale. It is leisurely-paced and pleasurable to read. I can’t say there were many tense twists, but still, the story took me in suspense from the cover to cover. I adored an old fashioned language of this book, full of numerous cute sentence structure and adorable poems. _____ 🦡The Characters: The number of the main characters isn’t numerous, so that it will be pretty easy to focus on their adventures and misadventures. _____ 🐸My Favorite Quote: “But it was good to think he had this to come back to; this place which was all his own, these things which were so glad to see him again and could always be counted upon for the same simple welcome.” _____ 🦦Would I read other books by this author: Yeap! ____ 🦡My humble rating is: 5/5 ____ P.S. Thank you so much What Victoria Read for such an awesome and sweet recommendation!🥰👋💙📖 _____ #writerslife #AmReading #bookreview #TheWindInTheWillows #Fairytale #bookishlovegroup #unitedbookstagram #bookstagram #betterreadschallenge

After watching the Disney adaptation of this classic, I decided to read it for myself, and I'm glad I did. Here are my reflections: When you watch the Disney animated film, the title seems to be a misnomer. Not so for the book. The book repeatedly references how the wind has a voice of its own, particularly in the fantastic, "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn," chapter. The book seems to be a compilation of short stories, so you can skip some chapters entirely and not be left out of the plot. You can read the skipped chapters later if you so desire. They're wonderfully written, but to be honest, not much happens in them. In the movie, Toad never steals a motorcar. In the book he darn sure does. He goes to prison justly, but for some reason after his friends help him recapture Toad Hall, he is no longer pursued by the police, even though he is no less guilty of his crime and is even moreso guilty because of his defiant escape. In this way, the book has a loose end that the movie by Disney corrects. Unfortunately Toad's character is slightly altered in the Disney movie because of the way it ties up this loose end. The pace of the book seems to be very slow for a children's book and it's on quite a high reading level I would say. To me, this is surefire proof that literate kids 100 years ago were far more literate than literate kids of today. Harry Potter doesn't have near as high of a vocabulary level requirement as this book does. Most of the vocabulary is used to describe nature. Due to the slow pace of the book in which the narrator describes how beautiful the outdoors is, you really have to like nature to fully appreciate the author's intent. I don't know how many people in modern times really appreciate the outdoors. I sure don't. I hate mosquitos. The use of metaphors in this book is extraordinarily beautiful. The moon is anthropomorphized and described as deliberately and intently struggling to shine through the clouds to help Rat and Mole in their search for Otter's baby. Also, making a trek to the South is compared to checking out of a hotel, and strong smelling sausage is described as singing of garlic. This Grahame guy was far more of an adult author than a children's author if you ask me. I didn't really care for any of the characters other than Toad. I was saddened to see that he was left entirely out of many chapters. Toad was perfect comic relief. Sleeping way later than everyone else, not sharing his load of the work, claiming to do things he couldn't do, talking about how great he was, etc. The whole bit of Toad dressing as a washerwoman was great, and fortunately ate up a large chunk of the book. The high points of the book are its great and masterful use of the English language including its beautiful metaphors, and the presence of the fun and amusing Toad. The only thing it has that may not be so appreciated is its slow pace. The animals sit down to a meal about 200 times during the book, and the preparations for the meals seem overwhelmingly detailed, making you question whether "adventure" is a proper word to use in describing what's going on. This magnificent work seems targeted to upper class individuals who are bigger on manners and properness than action and suspense, although it does have a good amount of comedy. Great stuff, but not for Spongebob Squarepants fans.

I'm writing about the BBC children's audiobook on CD that is currently one of the formats on this listing -- easily one of my favorites and I'm so happy to have finally bought it. I listened to it fairly often in my early teens, and got a nostalgic hankering for it recently that I couldn't fill, because the only copy in my library system was on cassette tape. This is hands-down one of the greatest full-cast audio dramatizations of a children's classic, possibly being surpassed only by "The Mind's Eye" production of The Hobbit. Do not expect a word-for-word reading -- instead it is a condensed buffet for the senses that beautifully captures the *spirit* of the book. I laugh in delight every time at the ludicrous, pompous voice of Toad, the no-nonsense dry words of Badger, and of course Mole as he goes from nervous eagerness to a more self-assured animal. There is a very different voice for each part, nowhere do you have to wonder who's talking. And equally memorable are the little songs, the between-scenes music, and the many sound effects (who could forget the "poop poop" of the motorcar horns). I always wish it were longer, but I used to listen to it on repeat while I was sewing, and it never lost its charm even after many listenings. I'm not British, but can perfectly imagine the brooks, the hedgerows, the country houses and woods...it makes me homesick for comforting places I've never been. Perfect road-trip-with-kids audiobook, especially for reluctant young listeners/readers who prefer movies, because this is very much like listening to a program with the screen off.

Although this is a classic children’s book, the Kenneth Grahame’s poetic writing style is a pleasure to read as an adult. The Kindle version did not have illustrations similar to the initial publication in 1908. The story maybe best known to American audiences from the 1949 Disney Cartoon The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. The anthropomorphic characters include Mr Toad, Mole, Ratty, and Badger. Toad is an eccentric squire who lives in Toad Manor along the river and has a penchant for mania. His obsession for automobiles (or motorcars) is fuels the main plot and motivates Toad to steal someone’s vehicle. This results in Mr Toad being sentenced to 20 years in jail. Throughout the Toad’s misadventures there are stand alone chapters that expand on ancillary characters of Mole, Ratty, and Badger. There have been several adaptations in multiple mediums, however, the original source material is worth the read. Graham’s scene description is unique for a children’s book. For instance, chapter nine opens with: “To all appearance the summer’s pomp was still at fullest height, and although in the tilled acres green had given way to gold, though rowans were reddening, and the woods were dashed here and there with a tawny fierceness, yet light and warmth and colour were still present in undiminished measure, clean of any chilly premonitions of the passing year. But the constant chorus of the orchards and hedges had shrunk to a casual evensong from a few yet unwearied performers; the robin was beginning to assert himself once more; and there was a feeling in the air of change and departure.” Simply beautiful writing. Kenneth Grahame wrote another well-known short story entitled “The Reluctant Dragon” which was also adapted into a 1941 Disney movie.

Yes, I somehow got all the way to this point in my life without having read "The Wind in the Willows," which is widely hailed as a classic. I remember seeing the Disney version years ago as a child, as well as a stop-motion-animated version on television at some point, but never got around to reading the actual book until very recently. And having read what's widely hailed as a classic of children's literature... I have to conclude that this book would have charmed me immensely as a child, but as an adult I find myself questioning the logic of the story too much. "The Wind in the Willows" is a story about a group of animal friends living along the banks of a river in England -- the soft-spoken and naive Mole, the strong-willed and determined Water Rat, the grouchy hermit Badger, and the egocentric and spoiled Toad. When Mole ventures out of his burrow and befriends the other animals, he finds himself being swept up in a series of adventures, from a dangerous trek through the weasel-infested Wild Wood to trying to keep Toad's sudden obsession with motor-cars from wrecking his life. And when Toad's reckless ways end up costing him his own home, the four animals find themselves banding together to come to his aid. As a child I would have found this book charming and cute, but as an adult I find myself sitting back and questioning the logic of the world too much. Part of this lies in the fact that the book can't seem to decide just how anthropomorphic its animal characters are -- they still exhibit plenty of animal traits, and some still live in burrows, but they seem to wear clothes, drive cars, own horses and pet birds, and some even live in ordinary houses. Toad is even mentioned to have a full head of hair at one point! And while having said animals have human-like traits would have been just fine in a book where the world remained consistent, Kenneth Grahame complicates it further by throwing in human characters. Just where is the line drawn between sentient creatures and animals in this universe... And perhaps these weren't pressing questions in the era when this book was written, but in my case it drove me nuts. The writing in this book is pretty flowery and ornate, which is to be expected from its time period. It can get a little wordy at times, but that does add to its charm, and it had plenty of wryly humorous moments as well. Its characters were delightful, and each had their own character flaws and their own strengths that played nicely off each other. Even Toad, who's by far one of the most obnoxious characters in the book, isn't wholly a terrible character and does show remorse for his actions. I've since learned after reading this book that several editions are published without two of its chapters -- "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" and "Wayfarers All." I can understand this, as both these chapters read more like short stories set in the same world than part of the novel proper, and actually break the flow of the story ("Wayfarers All" is smack-dab in the middle of Toad's prison escape, for example). Perhaps these would have worked better had they been included as extras at the end... I don't think this novel has aged very well, especially with some of the flaws in the logic of the worldbuilding and some of the uncomfortable classism present at certain points. It's definitely a product of its time, and can be a little off-putting to modern audiences. But it does retain a certain amount of charm, and I am glad to have read it.

This review is for the light blue hardcover Puffin Classic. It was purchased as "NEW" and arrived in beautiful condition. I saw this edition in person at an antique mall where it was not in great condition for $15 - so waited and ordered here for $9. A great buy.

“They recalled the languorous siesta of hot mid-day, deep in the undergrowth, the sun striking through in tiny golden shafts and spots; …and the long, cool evening at last, when so many threads were gathered up, so many friendships rounded, and so many adventures planned for the morrow.” It’s easy to see why Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows has become a revered children’s classic. The introduction to this edition sheds some light into Grahame’s motivation to draft this novel. Grahame experienced personal tragedy early in life when he lost his mother to a severe illness (the same illness that he ended up recovering from at an early age). Later in life, Grahame would read to his son (who had been born prematurely and was nearly blind) stories about animals. This was a sort of catharsis and therapy for Grahame, and, in this way, The Wind in the Willows was created as an inspiration of love. This novel is a fun and whimsical ride that celebrates nature, adventure and friendships formed. The quartet of memorable characters—Mole, Rat, Badger, and Toad—explore the world around them, the secrets and dangers, through various episodes, and this sometimes leads them into trouble. Probably the one most guilty of this is Toad, whose personality often leads his friends having to try to save him from trouble—and himself. Grahame writes in such a manner to give the novel a magical feeling and atmosphere. And through the animals exploits and living life to its fullest in nature, we see the important themes of camaraderie, love, loyalty, and friendship explored. I happened to find a nice audiobook recording that I used in conjunction with the reading of this paperback, and it really enhanced the experience. I’m glad to finally have gotten to this wonderful classic.

Great book

Nice and heartwarming story. Loved it. Worth for every age group.

I remember as a child being enchanted by this story and the poetic telling and value character development that has stayed with me over the years. I wanted to pass this onto my grandchildren. The hidden strength of Mole, the soundness of Ratty, the leadership and strength of Badger, the consequences of being a follower of fashion and fun like Toad, the perfidy of the weasels and the denizens of the Wild Wood. So formative and fun filled for children and adult alike. Read properly to or by your grandchildren this saga will stay with them for life.

Look I'm very bias towards this book; but even so it's got to be the greatest novel, ever written for children. It's only rival for that tittle being 'Alice's Adventures'. I say I'm bias because I first fell in love with this story when a teacher at junior school read it to us when I was nine and ever since I have always had a copy and could not tell you how many I have now; safe to say it's a good few examples. But the story; what's it all about. that is the question. It's a silly fantastical nonsense about animals to amuse small children, it's a tale about friendship and companionship, it's an exploration of emotion and personality and how that's different from person to person, an appreciation for life and nature, treasuring relationships, exploring new horizons while still valuing ones home, fighting for what you value and giving of ones self. You can read it as a story about animals that behave like humans or as a morality parable about humans that resemble the characteristics of animals. We all know a Mole and a Toad and would cherish a stalwart friend like Badger even if he is a little grumpy and stand offish. It's a story that's more than often been copied and plagiarised but never bettered. Why this addition? There is plenty of choice when it comes to additions, some far better than others, but for me it's not a true addition unless it's got the original Ernest Shepard illustrations, for me no other illustrator has ever capture the spirt of the story like Shepard. The very first edition I bought was the Penguin paperback version of this edition and this, hard back version, has always been the go to volume. I have others, some very expensive editions on expensive paper with deluxe binding and annotation notes though out but this is the fall back feet up settle down and read copy.

Anyone with any appreciation of classic literature absolutely must read The Wind in the Willows! To even call it a "classic" feels like an understatement; it's a cornerstone of children's literature, a timeless masterpiece that continues to enchant readers of all ages. This isn't just a book; it's an experience, a journey into a world of endearing animal characters and heartwarming adventures along the riverbank and beyond. The story is a diverse and varied landscape of characters, scenes, and escapades! One moment, Moley and Ratty are serenely "messing about in boats" on their beloved River, and the next, Toad has whisked them off for a characteristically impulsive and sweeping adventure on "the open road"! All of this is topped off by the utterly unrivalled illustrations by E. H. Shepard. He has created a masterpiece with his iconic depictions of Mole, Ratty, Toad, and Badger that feel as classic as the story itself. It's a book that should grace every bookshelf, a story to be shared and cherished across generations. It's not just for children; its wisdom and charm resonate deeply with adults too. So, please, do yourself a favour and immerse yourself in the delightful world of Toad, Ratty, Moley, and Badger! You won't regret a single moment!