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Summary: The Best Version
Review: Although there are many fine versions of this masterpiece out there, I highly recommend this edition with the sublime illustrations of E.H. Shepard. Shepard, of course, is the wizard behind the illustrations for Winnie the Pooh, and his contribution to this volume are as significant. Shepard's ability to translate the delicate pastoral mood of Grahame's prose into simple, beautiful line drawings is something for every adult pining for a moment of beauty in their hectic day to cherish.
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Summary: Don't pretend you're too old to read this!
Review: I, a reluctant grown-up, confess that my life has been enriched through my meeting of these four Edwardian animal bachelors. This is a classic that should be read TO or BY anyone YOUNG or OLD enough to have an imagination! Grahame created a wonderful pastoral world where the River-Bankers (consisting of Rat, Mole, Badger, and Otter) and their friends form a close-knit community of leisured landowners who observe an extremely strict code of responsible behavior. Uh... then there's Toad. Toad, although he is one of the River-Bankers, continually distinguishes himself as one who is conceited and irresponsible, a spendthrift megalomaniac who disgraces his friends by even landing himself in jail. Because of his incarceration, the stoats and weasels of the Wild Wood attempt to invade Toad's ancestral home, and this threat to River-bank society is the one thing that can rouse Badger out of his cosy retirement. Together, he and Rat lecture Toad with the inflexible moral fervor of Alcoholics Anonymous. Will Toad ever come to a sincere repentance and reform? Well, that is the question. Throughout the whole book there runs the leitmotif which may be roughly described as the conflict between Us and Them - or more specifically, the attempts made by Grahame's ideal rural society to defend itself against encroachment. I personally believe that this subtle theme can be a great vehicle to instill in the young reader (or listener) a sense of the importance of peaceful living, and of how our actions affect others. Adult readers will definitely have lived long enough to clearly recognize themselves in one of the main animal characters. Alas... I am undoubtedly Toad!
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Summary: For kids of ALL ages
Review: I have been reading this book to my 3-year old daughter. Although she may not understand all that I am reading she is captivated by my reading (using voices of course!) I forgot how wonderful this story is and how beautiful the language is. Now that my son has been born he joins us for our reading time and he is as captivated as his sister! If you are looking for something special to read that the whole family can share this is the book you should hunt for. I would even suggest splurging a little and get a copy with the pretty illustrations. This will be a book that your child will remember forever and hopefully will pass on to their children!
Rating:
Summary: A Charming tale!
Review: I really enjoyed this book. It's a charming tale, and one that adults will enjoy as well. The illustrations are good. It's a really good story, that stays with you and is hard to forget.
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Summary: One of the Timeless Classics of Children's Literature
Review: As a literate polymath, I read many of the classics of children's literature as a child. However, somehow I missed this one, which I definitely consider a central classic. Having recently read it for the first time, I was struck by how it had something to please readers of all ages. Like Winnie the Pooh, this work has been diluted and cheapened by the Disney marketing machine, but the original novel still transcends the crass commercialism now based on it. One of the great aspects of this book is that the four main animal characters, Rat, Toad, Badger and Mole are not very animal-like. They are really four members of a British men's club of the early 20th century. This is what provides the unique charm of the story, and why it is a great foundation for a young reader's introduction to literature.
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Summary: A Lifetime on the Riverbank
Review: I, too, was introduced to Wind in the Willows at a very early age - around 4 - by my grandmother who read it to me over one long summer. From that summer on I understood the power and beauty of words. I loved "the taste" of all the big words in that book and found it so much fun to learn them. Forget all American theories of reading which simplify everything into pablum. Very young kids can deal with these "complex-branching" sentences and the sophisticated vocabulary, plot and character development. After 50 years of reading and teaching literature my copy of Wind in the Willows illustrated by Arthur Rackham is my treasure. I believe that Rackham was nearly completely paralyzed during the last year when he made these wonderful illustrations. A must for every child! ... and every parent who missed the experience!
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Summary: A must-read book
Review: I can't remember what age I was when I first read this book, but I have loved it ever since and re-read it a number of times. It is a magical book, with strange diversions like the The Piper chapter, and contains beautiful pieces of prose about so many topics, like the lure of travelling and the joys of having a place you can call your own. Writing the review makes me want to read the book again. Above all the book has a nice story about friendship and loyalty...and Toad is one of the most attractive flawed characters in fiction. This book should be compulsary reading.
Rating:
Summary: Maybe the best children's book for all ages
Review: Maybe there is a certain nostalgia associated with this book for me because it was one of the first "full-length" books that was read to me as a child. Also, because I still have the battered-copy that used to be my father's (along with his notes in it). Actually in his hippie days he was in a band called Wind in the Willows and that's how he found the book. However, nostalgia aside, this is in my opinion of the best children's books ever read. The underlying moral and religious themes are rather subtle and the reader can take what they want from this book. I can't describe what it has meant to me but the "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" chapter seems to capture better than any other piece of literature the awe and mystery of religious experience (and this is coming from a rather non-religious person). The whole book seems to capture the sense of wonder that is associated with childhood. Read it to your children -- they will stay interested because of the twisting plot and memorable characters. Or read it as an adult and you will perhaps appreciate the subtle and complex allegory of this masterpiece.
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Summary: A great book to read to your kids
Review: This book says 4-8 for age range, but really the writing far more complex than Dick-and-Jane. This is a book to READ to kids until they are old enough to read it again for themselves. Wind in the Willows is a longtime favorite of many people (and I just re-read it as an adult.) The story centers around the animal citizens of an English riverbank. Each animal has a different personality, from easy-going Mole to the wise and wiley Badger, the spoiling-for-a-fight Weasels and of course boastful Toad, the owner of splendid Toad Hall who has too much money and too little sense to know what to do with it. The education of Toad by his well-meaning friends is a good lesson. The battle for Toad Hall near the end of the book is also exciting. The content is entirely suitable for kids. The prose is a pleasure to read out loud and creates such pictures in one's imagination. And it's funny, too (the scene where Toad is nearly struck down by a car, which he has never seen before, and decides he MUST have one is absolutely hysterical.) If you are starting a reading-out-loud program at home, this should be at the top of your list. I'd also add Swiss Family Robinson to that list. I have wonderful memories of my teachers and parents reading these books to me. Why not give your kids the same lasting delight in good literature, reading and family fun.
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Summary: Hague's Illustrations
Review: I wanted to comment specifically on the illustrator here. This work has long been one of my fondest childhood memories, and still remains on my bookshelf, but what I find most remarkable is how perfectly Hague has interpreted the characters and settings in the accompanying images. They are charicatures that a reader familiar with only the text could be confronted with and instantly recognize; it is a perfect match. The images of the riverbank, toad hall, wild wood, etc are all likewise dreamy. If Grahame had known how to use watercolors, he may well have created this edition himself...
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