Kenneth Grahame was born Mar. 8, 1859 and died July 6, 1932. He was a Scottish author best known for this classic which he completed in 1908. He wrote the book for his only son, Alastair, while Kenneth was serving as a secretary of the Bank of England. He wrote only three other books: Pagan Papers (1893), personal essays that reflect his private frustrations, and the short-story collections The Golden Age (1895) and Dream Days (1898). Noted for its graceful charm, this book reveals the conflict between Grahame's aristocratic background and the new social concerns.
The major theme of the story is the struggle between the noisy, common way of life and the quiet and genteel. The Wild Wooders, including the stoats and the weasels, epitomize the former, while the River-Bankers, including Badger, Mole, Rat, and Toad, represent the latter. Toad is a lovable rebel who does not fit well into either camp. Structurally, the fantasy is a small epic in prose paralleling to some degree the events in Homer's Odyssey.
The complete text of The Wind in the Willows can be found on the Web at the literary archives of the University of Maryland.
"One does not argue about The Wind in the Willows. The young man gives it to the girl with whom he is in love, and, if she does not like it, asks her to return his letters. The older man tries it on his nephew, and alters his will accordingly. The book is a test of character. We can't criticize it, because it is criticizing us. But I must give you one word of warning. When you sit down to it, don't be so ridiculous as to suppose that you are sitting in judgment on my taste, or on the art of Kenneth Grahame. You are merely sitting in judgment on yourself. You may be worthy: I don't know, But it is you who are on trial."
A. A. Milne
"Now I have read it and reread it, and have come to accept the characters as old friends; and I am almost more fond of it than of your previous books. Indeed, I feel about going to Africa very much as the sea-faring rat did when he almost made the water-rat wish to forsake everything and start wandering!"
Theodore Roosevelt
Shaking with laughter, she proceeded to "hook-and-eye" him into the cotton print gown, arranging the shawl with a professional fold, and tied the strings of the rusty bonnet under his chin.
