Peace & Freedom Press Homepage Our sister site: booksmusicfilmstv.com
Kenneth Grahame The Wind in the Willows
Forget the cosy image. This book has probably the first instance of joyriding ever written! First published in 1908, the motor car was new on the scene, and the anti-hero of the book, TOAD, takes great delight in stealing the nearest available machine to go tearing through the countryside.
Like most of the classic children stories this book also appeals to adults. There's fun-filled adventures, fights, and a touch of philosophizing, and RATTY, MOLE and BADGER seem like wise old men compared to TOAD, although his disguising himself as a washerwoman to escape from prison shows a cunning mind.
TOAD is the most conceited of all the characters in children's literature. Unashamedly so. But lovable all the same. BADGER is wise, RATTY sensible, and MOLE the thoughtful one.
Take a trip down to the WILD WOOD.
- Paul Rance.
This Paul Rance article originally appeared in issue 5 of EASTERN RAINBOW, in 1996. For more news of this publication, and other PEACE & FREEDOM PRESS publications, click on the banner at the bottom of this page.
Toad illustration by Paul Rance
Toad merchandise available here
You can search Amazon.co.uk for various Wind in the Willows book editions, or other children's books. Just type in the title or author's name in the keywords box, then hit search. |
The Mole had been working very hard all the morning, spring-cleaning his little home. First with brooms, then with dusters; then on ladders and steps and chairs, with a brush and a pail of whitewash; till he had dust in his throat and eyes, and splashes of whitewash all over his black fur, and an aching back and weary arms. Spring was moving in the air above and in the earth below and around him, penetrating even his dark and lowly little house with its spirit of divine discontent and longing. It was small wonder, then, that he suddenly flung down his brush on the floor, said 'Bother!' and 'O blow!' and also 'Hang spring-cleaning!' and bolted out of the house without even waiting to put on his coat. Something up above was calling him imperiously, and he made for the steep little tunnel which answered in his case to the gravelled carriage-drive owned by animals whose residences are nearer to the sun and air. So he scraped and scratched and scrabbled and scrooged and then he scrooged again and scrabbled and scratched and scraped, working busily with his little paws and muttering to himself, 'Up we go! Up we go!' till at last, pop! his snout came out into the sunlight, and he found himself rolling in the warm grass of a great meadow.
'This is fine!' he said to himself. 'This is better than whitewashing!' The sunshine struck hot on his fur, soft breezes caressed his heated brow, and after the seclusion of the cellarage he had lived in so long the carol of happy birds fell on his dulled hearing almost like a shout. Jumping off all his four legs at once, in the joy of living and the delight of spring without its cleaning, he pursued his way across the meadow till he reached the hedge on the further side.
Some interesting, and/or fun sites
The entire Wind in the Willows -
Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library
The Wind in the Willows
The Wind in the Willows
attraction, Derbyshire, UK
The Wind in the Willows by
Kenneth Grahame: A searchable online version at The Literature
Network
WIND IN
THE WILLOWS DVDs available from Amazon.co.uk
Wind In The Willows (2002)
The Wind In The Willows [1983]
The Wind In The Willows [1996]
The Wind In The Willows Collection
Kenneth Grahame - The Wind in the Willows - Gift Book (Amazon.co.uk)
THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS Amazon.com related items
Books
The Wind in
the Willows
Kenneth
Grahame; Hardcover
The Wind in
the Willows
Kenneth
Grahame; Paperback
The Wind in
the Willows
Kenneth
Grahame; Hardcover
Video
DVD
The Wind in
the Willows/The Willows in Winter
CHILDREN'S DVDs selected by Peace & Freedom Press in association with Amazon.co.uk
This website is designed by Peace & Freedom Press.