Rating: 
Summary: Check your Text
Review: "Wind" is the charming story of four friends living near the river bank - Mole, Badger, Rat and Toad. The story follows their adventures in the Wide World, and how true friendship keeps them together through "thick and thin." Unfortunately, the story loses some of its appeal in this video version. It tells the tale well enough, but it just doesn't have the feel of a "classic." Sometimes, you have to read the book to fully appreciate it! Good, not great. Three stars.
Rating: 
Summary: The Best of Children's Literature
Review: I am perplexed regarding the previous, one-star review. . . I own this edition of The Wind in the Willows, and it is complete and unabridged. Nothing is missing. I have read this book aloud to my five year old daughter three times entirely, and additionally she loves it so very much we often read bits and pieces as the fancy strikes. It's truly a timeless book, highly imaginitive and possessing an impressive moral compass. The first time I read it aloud, my daughter was barely three. Despite the advanced vocabulary, she listened, positively enchanted, as the poetic language is so riveting. And, I don't ever stop to explain new words, unless she asks, as I do not like to interupt the story. I'm always surprised at how much she is able to understand from context. Her own vocabulary has increased due, in part, to listening to this classic. It's such a fabulous tale of frienship and loyalty, both adventurous and touching. Hague's illustrations are whimsical and beautiful. I recommend this book, and especially this edition, most heartily!
Rating:
Summary: A great work for readers of all ages
Review: I doubted if a children's book could command my interest at this advanced stage of my life, but I have to say that "The Wind in the Willows" completely enthralled me. It is the story of four personified animals, the eponymously named Mole, Water Rat, Badger, and Toad, who live on or near a river that runs through an idyllic countryside obviously modeled on Edwardian England. In their world, physical size with regard to objects and other animals doesn't follow any kind of common logic or consistency; the animals seem to be simultaneously as big as humans and small enough to live in their own natural habitats. The animals have vivid human personalities. Mole is timorous and meek, Rat is adventurous and poetic, Badger is unpredictable but protective and mean when he needs to be. Toad, however, is the most salient figure; he is wealthy, greedy, conceited, and clumsy, and he lives in a stately manor called Toad Hall. Mole and Rat's interests are simple; they enjoy boating down the river and socializing with other animals, including otters, field mice, and a seafaring Rat who regales the Water Rat with eloquent tales of his voyages around the world. They even encounter the god Pan, in a strangely ecclesiastical moment. Toad's picaresque adventures throughout the book provide a counterpoint to Mole and Rat's more pastoral activities. Toad is so captivated with the idea of faster and faster transportation that when a motor-car overtakes and wrecks his horse-drawn cart in the road, he can only watch the departing vehicle in avaricious rapture. So then he buys car after expensive car, wrecking each one with his incompetent driving. Despite his friends' attempts to cure him of his obsession, he steals a car in a frenzy and is consequently thrown in jail. However, he escapes by means of a ridiculous ruse and, after many more adventures, finally returns to his native river-bank only to find that Toad Hall has been taken over by gun-toting stoats, weasels, and ferrets. (Note the parallels to Homer's Odyssey here.) Fortunately, his friends rise to the occasion to help him reclaim his home, after which he resolves to learn some modesty. A great thing about the book is that Grahame uses many words that may be new or unfamiliar to young readers, but they're used in such a way that kids may be able to figure out their meanings by context. Also, while there are lessons to be learned through the animals' (especially Toad's) examples, there is no heavy-handed moralism to dilute the book's enjoyability. Clearly this is a work of the utmost creativity and imagination and demands the adult reader expand his or her mind to the realms of childlike wonder.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice adaptation
Review: I watched this as an adult, so I can't speak for how kids will encounter it. Thoughts:
- One thing that distracted me during the movie was the pacing of the plot. It's impressive that they crammed the book into 90 or so minutes, but as a result some parts seem hurried. Maybe that keeps kids' interest better.
- One thing the cartoon did well was giving the animal characters stereotypical mannerisms of post-Victorian British gentry (bachelors, to be specific). These aren't "National Geographic" animals--these are British "good old boys". That adds to the charm & makes the characterizations really come alive. That's why this story will be considered a classic for a long time.
- Finally, Toad is so over the top (wacky) that it's almost hard to take sometimes. How long do we have to see him despairing in his prison cell for his daft & reckless behavior? There are definite similarities of tone with, say, Wodehouse's "Wooster & Jeeves" in these parts, but wackier, if that can be believed.
Rating: 
Summary: Goodtimes Video Savages a Beautifully Animated Tale
Review: If the people of Goodtimes Video Distribution didn't destroy this awesomely animated series with their ghastly editing, this version of Wind of the Willows easily earns 5 stars. A lot of the original British production has been shabbily cut to make 3 "complete cartoons." Inexplicably two of these mangled vignettes actually repeat Toad's car stealing & escape. There is no reason for this bungling. It would have been so much easier just to package & distribute the John Coates/Dave Unwin series in it's original format. This beautiful animated version of Wind of the Willows deserves a better distributor. For shame, Goodtimes!
Rating:
Summary: The Willow has Withered
Review: If you are looking for The Wind in the Willows, keep looking because this is not it. All the British terminology has been removed, most of the references to things British have been removed, all references to guns & knives have been removed (but they left in the picture of Ratty entering Toad Hall with gun in hand), the entire chapter with Pan--one of the most enchanting in the entire book--has been removed, and most references to other literature (such as the chapter title "The Return of Ulysses") have been removed.
What's left? Not much. The story has been so altered as to take all the life out of it. Supposedly this has been done to make the story more accessible to young American readers. To which I reply, let the young American readers work their way up to Wind in the Willows under the tutelage of parents or teachers who love the real story and then give the original version of the book to the children. Wind in the Willows is a wonderful book but this version is not.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Movie
Review: If you've never followed the adventures of a rat, a mole, a badger, or a toad ... well, here is your chance.
This animated movie (that has an un-animated beginning and end) is a delightful mixture of fun, friendship, adventure, and irreverence. The irreverence is provided courtesy of Mr. Toad.
The animation here is excellent, and a good deal of imagination was used in writing the story ... all very much fun ... which follows the lives of the animals living along or near "the river".
The actors who provide the voices for the animals do a superb job of bringing these creatures to life. I think we tend to take these good characterizations for granted, but these fellows here are truly outstanding at giving these animals unique and believable personalities.
My favorite character is the rat ("Rattie") but one cannot help but love Mr. Toad.
But this is a fun movie from beginning to end.
Rating:
Summary: A brilliant, charming, uplifting, funny, moving tale!
Review: Kenneth Grahame's classic was recommended to me by several people over the years, but I just got around to reading it--at age 46! It was even better than I'd been led to believe. Everybody mentions the lovable buffoon Mr. Toad, but to me one of the greatest aspects of this book was the fantastically vivid nature writing. I don't believe I've ever read such evocative descriptions of landscapes, seasons, and their effects on the perceptive observer. Do you find "classics" boring? Well then, you won't regard "The Wind in the Willows" as a classic, because the stories and characters will seem as alive to you as anything else in life. A pure delight, and I look forward to reading it again and again. (Psst--The text of the book is available for free from Project Gutenberg if you want to sneak a peek.)
Rating:
Summary: Idyllic, adventurous, poetic, humorous ... truly classic!
Review: Reading a book that is well-established as a classic offers both risks and rewards. The risk is that one's expectations might be too high, leading to disappointment. The reward is that the book matches expectations, leading to thorough satisfaction. Reading Kenneth Grahame's "The Wind in the Willows" is certainly rewarding, but also risky. It's unquestionably a classic, popularized in part by A.A. Milne's dramatization in 1929 under the name "Toad of Toad Hall." Quite honestly, expecting a child-like story, I found it on a higher level altogether, and perhaps even best appreciated by teens and older readers. It has a poetical lyrical quality that could discourage younger readers from completing it on their own. But that aside, it's not hard to see why this book has stood the test of time. Especially the talking animal protagonists are outstanding. Shy and loyal Mole, clever and courageous Rat, gruff and gentlemanly Badger, and arrogant, adventurous and crazed Toad - the animal characters that populate Grahame's novel are thoroughly individual, real, and loveable, despite their individual quirks. They are distinctly animal-like, and yet aspects of their life (food - transport - clothing) are distinctly human, enabling us to identify with them quickly and easily and yet be charmed by their differences. Toad does ultimately repent from his conceited egotism "Henceforth I will be a very different Toad", although we cannot help get the feeling that this is not the first time he has embarked on a road of repentance only to be ambushed again by his old nature. All of this is portrayed with poetic lyricism, as well as warm sympathy and humour. There is something here for everyone. When the friends aren't lazily floating down the river or indulging their appetites, they are worrying about Toad's latest escapades with motor-boats or automobiles. Readers will find themselves attracted to the rustic, quiet and cozy life of companionship on the river, or else the neverending action that ensues as Toad follows his selfish passions and gets himself into trouble and the climax as Toad and his friends seek to recapture Toad Hall from evil weasels, ferrets and stoats. While the final battle offers thrills, Toad's "education" is undoubtedly a good lesson for us all. Grahame's animal world offers much food for thought for humans in the real world. Visiting this fantasy world is not escapist, because it better equips us to live in the real world. If there is any criticism, it might be that the novel does not work the aspects of introspection and adventure together cohesively and so does not always function well as a whole. The shift from pastoral introspection to madcap adventure and back is at times too great. But even if the snap-shots of "The Wind in the Willows" 's fantasy world are somewhat fragmented, in the end it's the characters of this world that make it so convincing and successful. With their successful combination of idyllic companionships and adventurous mishaps, Mole, Rat, Badger and Toad will continue to make new friends of readers in years to come. -GODLY GADFLY
Rating:
Summary: The Wind in the Willows
Review: The Wind in the Willows is a delightful children's classic that touches upon many things; wonder, pastoralism, but most of all friendship between individuals very different from one another. One of the hallmarks of this classic is that the adventure stories remain entertaining to this day. A must read for any child.
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