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    The Wind in the Willows
    The Wind in the Willows
    The Wind in the Willows
    Audiobook7 hours

    The Wind in the Willows

    Written by Kenneth Grahame

    Narrated by Ron Keith

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    The Wind in the Willows is a classic of children's literature by Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. Alternately slow moving and fast paced, it focuses on four anthropomorphised animal characters 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.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateMar 10, 2008
    ISBN9781440799457
    Author

    Kenneth Grahame

    Kenneth Grahame was born in Edinburgh in 1859. He was educated at St Edward's School, Oxford, but family circumstances prevented him from entering Oxford University. He joined the Bank of England as a gentleman clerk in 1879, rising to become the Bank's Secretary in 1898. He wrote a series of short stories, married Elspeth Thomson in 1899 and their only child, Alistair, was born a year later. He left the Bank in 1908, the year that The Wind in the Willows was published. Though not an immediate success, by the time of Grahame's death in 1932 it was recognised as a children's classic.

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    Reviews for The Wind in the Willows

    4.5/5

    142 ratings112 reviews

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    • 5/5
      If ever there was a more perfect concatenation of material and reader (with a touch of nostalgic memory thrown in), I'm not sure I've heard it. As a child the BBC had a programme with a very simple idea - someone would sit and, for 15 minutes each night, read a children's story. Usually over a week, but sometimes over several weeks. Sometimes they'd be in a chair, sometimes they'd read it on location, sometimes there would be still cartoons or illustrations to accompany the reading. A more simple idea would be difficult to imagine and yet it worked - brilliantly. Somewhere lodged deep in my memory is the remembrance of hearing Alan Bennett (who I had never heard of at that stage) read. He most famously read Winnie the Pooh ()and a more doleful Eeyore has never been heard) but he also did Wind in the Willows for Radio. He has such a dry narrative voice, but did all the voices, from the humble Mole the farmer-esque badger, the slightly Henley ratty and the ebullient Toad. And in my memory it has stayed, so when I saw it on CD in the library, i snapped it up. And it is every bit as good as memory imagined. for a start, the text is divine. Hearing it again I had to wonder if Grahame had written it with an ear to it being read aloud by a parent to a child, there's rhythm and alliteration and repetition throughout that would hook a child's attention. And it's such a great tale. Toad and his enthusiasms, Mole and his burrow when the carolers come, Ratty and his love for boats, badger being the fatherly figure keeping them all in line. Great text, brilliant reading and the rose tinted glasses remain thoroughly intact - how can you possibly go wrong.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      A great children's story. I recommend this for family-reading.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This was required reading in my house. Not a day went by when someone didn't refer to dear Ratty, or Toad Hall. I had 3 copies by the time I was ten.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      A review of a (nearly) 100-year-old book isn't entirely necessary, but perhaps this will be helpful to someone. I'm familiar with the story and characters from my childhood, although I do not recall whether I read the book in full at the time or not. Just finished listening to the audiobook read by Ron Keith (recorded 2003) and thoroughly enjoyed this rollicking ride. Mr Toad is as odious as ever, but still fun to observe. And the home scenes between Ratty, Mole and Badger are as cosy as I recall from my youth. A perfect winter read. My favourite sequence is when the friends are preparing to recapture Toad Hall and Ratty is counting out weapons into piles:

      The Rat, on the other hand, was running round the room busily, with his arms full of weapons of every kind, distributing them in four little heaps on the floor, and saying excitedly under his breath, as he ran, `Here's-a-sword-for-the-Rat, here's-a-sword- for-the Mole, here's-a-sword-for-the-Toad, here's-a-sword- for-the-Badger! Here's-a-pistol-for-the-Rat, here's-a-pistol- for-the-Mole, here's-a-pistol-for-the-Toad, here's-a-pistol-for- the-Badger!' And so on, in a regular, rhythmical way, while the four little heaps gradually grew and grew.
    • 5/5
      I would give this 10 stars if it were possible. Sandwyk is my most favourite illustrators of all time.
    • 4/5
      A fun book, but I have not read it in years.
    • 3/5
      The enchanting story of animals that live in the Wild Wood.
    • 3/5
      This abridged edition doesn't leave much out (I think only that meeting with the Lord of the Hills or Herne the Hunter or whoever he was when they were looking for Otter's kid), making it more like an illustrated synopsis. Which is okay given that the real Wind in the Willows is a moderately wonderful childhood experience and picture synopsis version can prepare small kids to love the characters when they encounter them in the real thing.
    • 3/5
      I *wanted* to like this book as a child. It was supposed to be good. It would somehow be "good" for me, like eating my vegetables. It was a "classic", and I liked all the other classic children's novels I had read. But I didn't think much of it at all, and I read it twice just to be sure. Granted I haven't given it a reread as an adult and I'm willing to admit there may be something there I missed when I was young.
    • 3/5
      A cute story revolving around four animals and their trials and tribulations. There's nothing particularly substantial in it, although it should contain enough moral hints and cues for children to take note. Mr. Toad carried the story, partly because his behavior was so outrageous and that he apparently learned nothing from it, but the others, such as Mole and Rat, were real in their own way.
    • 4/5
      The Wind in the Willows is regarded as a classic of chidlren's literature, and while it is enjoyable, I'm not sure it deserves that status. The book follows the activities (I hesitate to call some of the trivial things they engage in adventures) of four animal friends: Mole, Water Rat, Badger, and Toad. For the most part, the book follows Mole and Water Rat, who serve as stand-ins for middle-class English country gentlemen. The pair spend their days boating on the river, having very English picnic lunches and dinners, hosting poor Christmas carolers, exploring the enticing and dangerous wild wood, and trying to keep the aristocratic Toad from getting into trouble.One thing that is never clear in the book is why Mole and Water Rat are middle class, why Toad is wealthy, and why Badger is working class, although they all clearly are. The Otter family and the field mouse carolers seems to be poor as well,and the weasels and stoats are essentially poverty-stricken ruffians. No one seems to do any work in the animal worls, so it is unclear why the field mice are poor, while Mole is comfortable enough to have them all in for a bite to eat when they knock at his door. It is a mystery how Toad is able to afford the multiple cars he purchases (and wrecks) in the story. This bit of English class structure, while giving an interesting window on the state of the world in Grahame's era, makes the book more than a little dated, and probably not particularly approachable for a young reader today.For the most part, the four friends putter around doing more or less mundane things - the biggest excitement in the first half of the book is when Mole and Water Rat find and return one of the Otter children who had gotten lost. The actual adventures, such as they are, of the quartet are heavily driven by Toad and what appear to be his attempts to stave off the boredom that comes with being wealthy and idle. He steals a car, gets thrown in jail, escapes, and finds his home taken over by ruffians (Stoats and Weasels), whereupon the four friends arm themselves with clubs, pistols, and swords, and toss the trespassers out. They, of course, immediately plan a party to celebrate.The book is mostly noteworthy for its love of country living, and the unspoiled, but tamed English countryside (the river dwellers being carefully distinguished from those that live in "the wild wood"). In some ways, Grahame is a predecessor of Tolkien, wishing that a pastoral way of life would persist and not be overcome by industiralization and a breaking down of class barriers.On the whole, the book is fun, even if the doings of the protagonists range from the merely trivial to the criminal, and probably worth giving to a child to read, but I would not consider this to have the "must read" status that it has been accorded.
    • 4/5
      The Wind in the Willows is an a children's tale that adults should also enjoy. The Barnes and Noble classics edition gives needed background information on the book and Kenneth Grahame.
    • 4/5
      I'm sure I've read this book as a child, but thanks to my faulty memory, I couldn't say for sure. What's certain is I didn't expect I'd be as surprised by this old classic as I was. I was expecting a quiet pastoral affair with plenty of cute little animals cavorting about, and was almost shocked when the story deviated from the script, which up till a certain point included pleasant trips boating up and down a river and visits between friends Mole, River Rat, Toad, Badger and Otter, and what could have been a scary trip into the woods, had I been a young child. But then, WHAM! Toad getting arrested and sent to jail and the great escape that ensues complete with train chase, all this involving a whole slew of human beings who don't seem to find it the least bit strange that a toad should have stolen a car and driven recklessly, or been mistaken for a washerwoman once having donned the clothing of one such person, well... I never thought this innocent book would shake me up as much as it did. Blame it on the fact that I was sleepy and expecting a variation on Beatrix Potter maybe? But now I think of it, is Beatrix Potter anything like what I think I remember? I'm almost scared to find out!
    • 5/5
      Originally published in 1908, this classic British animal fantasy began as a series of bedtime stories that the author created for his young son, and only found its way into print after Grahame retired from his career in banking. Described as everything from a paean to the beauty of English country life, to a portrait of the class structure of late Victorian Britain, The Wind in the Willows is one of those stories that can be interpreted in diverse ways, and appreciated on many different levels. The tale of four friends - humble Mole, who happens upon a new life and a new social circle one day, when he sticks his nose up out of his burrow; friendly Ratty, a stouthearted sailor and happy-go-lucky river-dweller, who serves to bind the friends together; wise and retiring Badger, who may prefer the solitude of his woods, but nevertheless proves a valuable ally and friend; and spoiled Toad (of Toad Hall), the conceited son of privilege, who has a better heart than either judgment or resolve - it is as engaging as it is well written, and every bit as relevant as the day it was first published.Chosen as our December selection, over in The Children's Fiction Book Club to which I belong, The Wind in the Willows is one of those books (of which there are far too many, I am afraid) that I have long been meaning to read, but to which I never seem to get to. How glad I am that my book-club commitments finally gave me the push I needed to pick it up, as I absolutely adored it! I can see why so many readers have recommended it to me over the years. The social analysis is certainly of interest - I find the idea (put forward in our book discussion, amongst other places) that the four friends each represent a different strata of the middle and upper classes, while the residents of The Wild Wood (the weasels, stoats and ferrets) represents the "underclass," quite convincing - although it was the beauty of the language that really stood out, on this initial read. The playful use of language, with made-up words and plenty of alliteration - 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..." - the lyrical descriptions of the world of river and wood, and the gorgeous dreamlike passages leading up to the breathlessly magical encounter with Pan, in "Pipers at the Gates of Dawn," all left a powerful impression on me. I will be wanting to read this again, I think, and will be thinking of it for some time to come. It's just a lovely, lovely little book!
    • 5/5
      Wow, I never read this as a child, my only exposure was from Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disneyland. What an amazing book. Just finished reading this book to my five-year-old son. We both loved it. A wonderful story, such expressive writing. Great characters. I'll be reading this again.
    • 2/5
      A book that appears to have been part of everyone's childhood except mine. We had a lovely hardbound copy as long as I can remember, but I never read it until now. And it doesn't translate well to adults. Having been written a century ago, I expected it to be dated, but I didn't expect it to be quite so...odd. Each chapter is more or less a separate story about the same group of characters: poetic Rat, generous Mole, selfish Toad, gruff Badger, and friendly Otter. Toad has by far the most personality, what with his utter conceit and his obsession with motorcars, but he's less entertaining than tiresome. I don't have any issues with the idea of talking animals in general, but when they begin interacting with humans it can get a little strange. For example, the illustrations in this book show Toad at roughly half the height of an adult human - which he would have to be, given part of the storyline. Maybe I would like this book more had I grown up with it, but as it stands I just see it as a really bizarre little tale that I will most likely never read again.
    • 4/5
      Perfectly lovely story about messing about in boats, wild boastful adventures and why one should never pretend to be a washerwoman if one has never washed clothes. The genius of The Wind in the Willows is the perfectly imagined non-human morality: everything is right when it's born of instinct. Animals eat, play in the summer sun, return home, and nap through the winter, as they should. My childhood copy (Galahad Books 1983) is missing a chapter: the one where the seafaring rat bewitches Ratty to go South. The flow of the story isn't interrupted without it, although I wonder why that one was taken out, and not "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn."
    • 5/5
      As the introduction (written back in the 80s by Grahame biographer Peter Green) rightly identifies, although Mr. Toad made The Wind in the Willows famous, his action packed adventures are the least evocative and I’d go further to say he’s the least interesting of the characters. The best chapter, Dulce Domum, in which Mole desperately seeks to return to his own home despite its humbleness is an intoxicatingly emotional description of the inescapable connection most of us have to our own familiar four walls however else we might imagine they seem to others (and nearly had me in tears by the time the carol singers arrived). The loyalty between Ratty and Mole is also especially touching, not unlike that between Sherlock and Watson, the former often riding roughshod of the latter’s feelings until he realises he’s gone too far, guilt sets in and he shambles about making amends.
    • 5/5
      Before I read this book, I thought that this is fantasy.But this is very instructive story.I can lean importance of friends and modesty again.I can notice that telling friends severe advice is difficult but considerate treatment.
    • 5/5
      Ok, second attempt at a review after the damn interwebs ate my last one. Luckily I’m composing this one offline first.

      To me Kenneth Grahame’s _The Wind in the Willows_ is a particularly fine novel. It’s a children’s story and normally that would get my back up. I’m generally not a big fan of children’s lit or YA, and to add to this I didn’t even read this book as a child and thus have the requisite rose-coloured glasses to lend credence to my love for the story. Somehow, however, this tale of the adventures of four animal friends in an idealized and idyllic Edwardian English countryside resonated deeply with me. I think part of this has to do with the deft hand Grahame shows in the creation of his characters: shy amiable Mole, courageous and resolute Ratty (that’s Water Rat by the bye), gruff but stalwart Badger and, last but certainly not least, frivolous and vain Toad, all partake of elements of archetype and yet are never fully defined by it, they manage to emerge as characters in their own right. The setting too seems to straddle the line between generic and specific. The animal friends are constantly travelling against a background whose very names are emblematic: the River, the Wildwood, the Town and yet when we come to their homes we could not wish to find more congenial or personal places of the heart.

      Our tale (or perhaps I should say tales) begins as the shy Mole first pokes his nose out from his underground home to be presented with a newly discovered wider world he approaches with awe and wonder. I wouldn’t quite say that Mole is the main character of the stories that follow (though he is always a significant part of them), but I’ve always had a soft spot for him and enjoy seeing Grahame’s idealized English meadows, woods and countryside through his amiable eyes. Toad would probably be the more likely candidate, certainly for a good portion of the stories which concentrate on his adventures: a life-loving jester of a character with more money than brains always looking out for the next fad that is of course the fulfillment of his true heart’s desire…yet again. Indeed, keeping tabs on their friend and trying to hammer some good animal sense into his soft head is one of the major tasks the other characters must undertake in many of these tales. Grahame’s pacing is excellent, at times meandering with a leisurely pace from a boating foray on the River to spring-cleaning a much-loved home, and at others moving at breakneck speed to escape from prison or reclaim an ancestral home from dangerous enemies. Thus we follow our friends as they learn about their world and each other and I cannot say that there are many more enjoyable companions to be had for such a venture.

      I’ve seen arguments online that these stories are somewhat parochial and insular: whenever the world outside of the hedgerows intrudes it is usually either a dangerous temptation or a destructive force. I can’t really argue with this, but does all literature need to celebrate the novel and the strange? Isn’t there a place for the well-loved hearth and a joyous homecoming? _The Wind in the Willows_ is nothing if not a celebration of the comfortable and the familiar, a paen for a world and a type of beauty fading away. There may be good reasons for why it had to die out, but I would argue that there is still value in remembering it. When I try to put my finger on what it is about this book that so captures my imagination and elevates it from being merely a tale about talking animals within the context of a long-dead worldview I think that Christopher Milne, son of the author of _Winnie the Pooh_, may have said it best when he talked of “those chapters that explore human emotions – the emotions of fear, nostalgia, awe, wanderlust.” It is these parts of the book that speak directly to my heart and examine the wider aspects of the human spirit.
    • 4/5
      "Wills," as my son called it when I read it to him as a bedtime story earlier this year, is a delightful book. It is the story of how the quiet Mole discovered the world, but also the importance of home and friendship, and how the boastful Toad learned to exercise discretion - at least, we think he did. Like the best children's literature, it does not take itself too seriously (and never bothers to worry about the mechanics of how a Toad could drive an automobile), but it also does not descend into the land of precious (as, I fear, the original Pooh stories sometimes do). It seems reviewers generally find Mr. Toad the most enjoyable character, but I confess the curmudgeonly Badger is my personal favorite (my son agrees). A few chapters can be a little dull (parts of "Piper At the Gates of Dawn" - later a Pink Floyd album title - and "Wayfarers All" could be counted on to put my son to sleep), but you can't argue with a classic, and this is a classic. And remember, "there is nothing half so much worth doing as simply messing around in boats."
    • 5/5
      This is one of the most lovely, funny, and beautiful books that I have ever read. I've been reading and re-reading it since I was quite young, and it always leaves me wanting more. Mole, Rat, Badger, and especially the ingenious and inimitable Mr. Toad are a perfect fusion of temperaments, quirks, strengths, and weaknesses. An odd shifting of tone from one chapter to the next nonetheless works perfectly, a rare alchemy that would have (and often has) turned leaden in the hands of a lesser author.

      But I won't be reviewing the book in great detail here. Instead, here's how Sebastian, my seven-year-old son, reacted to the story.

      I have to admit that I was worried that the book might be too advanced for him. And at first, my fears seemed prophetic: the story didn't seem to interest him very much, and he often asked to read something else (or read one of his own books to me). I had carefully picked an unabridged edition (TWitW is often abridged, with "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" chapter being the most frequent casualty), but I found myself abridging the book on the fly. The language is truly lovely, but at Sebastian's age some of the longer descriptive passages just don't work.

      After struggling to read it to him for several weeks ("Dad, let's read something else tonight!") I picked up the book with the private resolution that if Sebastian didn't get more interested in it that night, I'd return it to the library and wait a year before trying again.

      And then Mole decided to make a private trek into the Wild Wood to meet Badger.

      I'd forgotten how frightening that section was! It's like a ghost story. Sebastian was riveted. From that point on, he was captivated; he even had me bring it in the car, so I could read it to him on the way to the train station (my wife was driving, of course).

      It took me a little while to work out the voices. Mole's is nasal and high, a bit like Terry Jones' when he's playing a silly part in Monty Python (ironically, Jones played Toad in a movie adaptation of the book, I believe). Rat is more mellifluous and a bit, well, educated; I keep thinking of "the playing fields of Eaton" when I'm reading him (not the actual fields, mind you; I've never seen them. I'm thinking of the phrase.)

      Badger is more gruff, deep, and direct (I think of Ed Asner's Lou Grant, but as a Brit). For Otter, I think of a British athlete, a "jock" type; cheerful, casual, and strong; a bit like Hugh Laurie, for some reason (obviously not when he's playing House).

      I should note that I'm NOT particularly trying to do British accents; I'm just letting the voices in my head shade the voices as I read them. So a tinge of accent creeps in, so to speak.

      Toad is the one character who gave me trouble. Eventually I decided that since Toad gets the best lines, and has the most emotional moments, I might as well use something close to my own voice - but pitched just a little higher, and with just a touch of melodrama. Toad is quite a ham, after all.

      For a seven-year-old, Toad is clearly the favorite of the book. That "his" chapters alternate with other ones was sometimes a small problem - but even so, during (for example) the Toad-free "Dulce Domum" chapter in which Mole's nose and heart are temporarily recaptured by the smells of his old home (a truly heartrending scene) Sebastian's interest remained strong enough to carry him through to the next chapter.

      Without question, the high point comes in Chapter X, "The Further Adventures of Toad". Toad's incredibly funny song, his escapes and adventures, his highs and lows are all perfect grist for the child reader/listener (and for the parent who loves reading dramatically to their child, for that matter).

      The final two chapters cap the book off perfectly. Any properly bloodthirsty child will revel in the passages in which piles of pistols, swords, and cudgels are amassed for each animal to use in the battle to come. Tiptoeing along the secret passage, the battle itself...this is the sort of thing children love, when it's well-told. And it is perfectly written here.

      I will confess that the reform of Toad is not quite believable (Sebastian confidently told me that Toad would not stay reformed). And the ending comes just a little too quickly. I have always wished as soon as I finished the book that there was more - and so did Sebastian. I know that sequels have been written by some modern-day author; I tried to read one of them, but at the time it didn't quite work for me. Some day, perhaps, I'll try it again...but maybe not. It would be more rewarding to simply re-read The Wind in the Willows once again.
    • 5/5
      This actually isn't the edition I read,which cancels the reasons for writing a review. I loved the line drawings, done by a recent modern artist. I can't find the cover--it was a large format-- but so many of the other editions and art seem very charming, so what the hey. Whatever you buy or read will probably work out just fine.A very nice book, a classic, for small children and then when they can read, they will enjoy going back and reading it themselves. Older kids reading it a first time? Yeah, I can see many wouldn't like it. I think the attraction for young children, rather like the Borrowers, is the cozy underground homes with furniture and tea and toast. Animals rowing boats. At, of 4 or 5, it just still seems possible. And Ratty and Mole: best buddies, never too harsh with the other's fears or failings. These are important feelings and uh messages.
    • 4/5
      The introduction tells us this is "the first novel-length animal fantasy" and as such "foreshadowing" "Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh, Adam's Watership Down and White's Charlotte's Web. I've never read Winnie-the-Pooh, but I can't say I liked this one anywhere near as much as Watership Down or Charlotte's Web.. I think partly because those two other books the picture of the animals are consistent. The animals of Watership Down are ordinary rabbits, if rabbits had fables, myths and their own speech and consciousness. The animals of Charlotte's Web are animals who can speak to each other. The animals of The Wind in the Willows sometimes seem animal-shaped creatures who can be mistaken for humans, wear clothes and steal motorcars, and sometimes animals. And the stories seem more episodic compared to those other books. There is some lovely writing within, appealing tales of friendships (among males anyway, Grahame has seemingly little use for women) and certainly Toad of Toad Hall with his mania for motor-cars is unforgettable. Read for the first time as a adult, this doesn't have the appeal of say Alice in Wonderland, but I bet if I had first had it read to me at six-years-old or read it for myself at ten, I'd have been enchanted.
    • 4/5
      Interesting to revisit an old friend. The good bits are still good, but I really can't warm to toad. I kept getting distracted by wondering how they earned a living and what size they were meant to be - the disadvantage of growing up.
    • 3/5
      Not one of my favourites, but still a good classic read.
    • 4/5
      I think I read this timeless adventure on five occasions as a child. . .Magical and often under-rated, Mr Grahame cleverly explores the meaning of friendship and the carprice of the upperclasses; depicting an idyllic era in England that was about to change forever with the advent of World War One. Much adapted in the modern era, the original story and illustrations by E H Shepard (the only ones approved by Mr Grahame) are by far the most satisfying.
    • 5/5
      A classic of children's literature. Wonderful.
    • 4/5
      This is a book with memorable images. I remember it much as I a remember a dream, at least one that stays in my mind. This memory is no doubt reinforced by the Disney film version of the story, but that does not detract from the impression the book made on a young boy. It is a book to which I plan to return and see if it still retains its power to impress and amaze me.
    • 5/5
      This was my favorite book when I was a child. When I read it years later to my own children, I still loved it, and they did too!