The Wind in the Willows

Publisher Marketing: With the arrival of spring and fine weather outside, the good-natured Mole loses patience with spring cleaning. He flees his underground home, emerging to take in the air and ends up at the river, which he has never seen before. Here he meets Rat (a water vole), who at this time of year spends all his days in, on and close by the river. Rat takes Mole for a ride in his rowing boat. They get along well and spend many more days boating, with Rat teaching Mole the ways of the river. One summer day, Rat and Mole disembark near the grand Toad Hall and pay a visit to Toad. Toad is rich, jovial, friendly and kind-hearted, but aimless and conceited; he regularly becomes obsessed with current fads, only to abandon them as quickly as he took them up. Having recently given up boating, Toad's current craze is his horse-drawn caravan. He persuades the reluctant Rat and willing Mole to join him on a trip. Toad soon tires of the realities of camp life and sleeps-in the following day to avoid chores. Later that day, a passing motorcar scares the horse, causing the caravan to overturn into a ditch. Rat threatens to have the law on the motorcar drivers while Mole calms the horse, but Toad's craze for caravan travel is immediately replaced by a motorcar obsession. Mole wants to meet the respected but elusive Badger, who lives deep in the Wild Wood, but Rat-knowing that Badger does not appreciate visits-tells Mole to be patient and wait and Badger will pay them a visit himself. Nevertheless, on a snowy winter's day, while the seasonally somnolent Rat dozes, Mole impulsively goes to the Wild Wood to explore, hoping to meet Badger. He gets lost in the woods, sees many "evil faces" among the wood's less-welcoming denizens, succumbs to fright and panic and hides, trying to stay warm, among the sheltering roots of a tree. Rat, finding Mole gone, guesses his mission from the direction of Mole's tracks and, equipping himself with two pistols and a stout cudgel, goes in search, finding him as snow begins to fall in earnest. Attempting to find their way home, Rat and Mole quite literally stumble across Badger's home-Mole barks his shin upon the boot scraper on Badger's doorstep. Badger-en route to bed in his dressing-gown and slippers-nonetheless warmly welcomes Rat and Mole to his large and cozy underground home, providing them hot food and dry clothes. Badger learns from his visitors that Toad has crashed seven cars, has been hospitalised three times, and has spent a fortune on fines. Though nothing can be done at the moment (it being winter), they resolve that when the time is right they will make a plan to protect Toad from himself; they are, after all, his friends and are worried for his well-being. Review Citations: Wilson Children's Catalog 01/01/0001 pg. 1023 (EAN 9780763642112, Paperback) Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2009 pg. 363 (EAN 9780192728159, Hardcover) School Library Journal 04/01/2009 pg. 106 (EAN 9780955304637, Hardcover) Wilson Children's Catalog 01/01/0001 pg. 1023 (EAN 9780955304637, Hardcover) Ingram Children's Advance 11/01/2005 pg. 27 (EAN 9781402725050, Hardcover) Ingram Children's Advance 07/01/2005 pg. 56 (EAN 9780143039099, Paperback) Kliatt 11/01/2007 pg. 46 (EAN 9781400100736, Other) Wilson Children's Catalog 01/01/1991 pg. 493 (EAN 9780915361328, Hardcover) Booklist 11/01/2003 pg. 496 (EAN 9780763622428, Hardcover) PW Notes and Reprints 11/24/2003 pg. 67 (EAN 9780763622428, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2003 pg. 79 (EAN 9780763622428, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2004 pg. 79 (EAN 9780763622428, Hardcover) Publishers Weekly 11/24/2003 (EAN 9780763622428, Hardcover) Wilson Children's Catalog 01/01/2006 pg. 681 (EAN 9780763622428, Hardcover) Wilson Children's Catalog 01/01/0001 pg. 1023 (EAN 9780763622428, Hardcover) PW Notes and Reprints 03/17/2003 pg. 78 (EAN 9780805072372, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2003 pg. 355 (EAN 9780805072372, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2003 pg. 355 (EAN 9780805072372, Hardcover) Publishers Weekly 03/17/2003 (EAN 9780805072372, Hardcover) School Library Journal 07/01/2003 (EAN 9789626342770, Compact Disc) School Library Journal 07/01/2003 (EAN 9789626347775, Analog Audio Cassette) PW Notes and Reprints 07/29/2002 pg. 74 (EAN 9781587172045, Hardcover) Booklist 12/01/2002 pg. 664 (EAN 9781587172045, Hardcover) School Library Journal 01/01/2003 pg. 96 (EAN 9781587172045, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2002 pg. 67 (EAN 9781587172045, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2003 pg. 67 (EAN 9781587172045, Hardcover) Publishers Weekly 07/29/2002 (EAN 9781587172045, Hardcover) PW Notes and Reprints 11/04/2002 pg. 86 (EAN 9780152168070, Hardcover) USA Today 12/04/2002 pg. 1 (EAN 9780152168070, Hardcover) Booklist 12/01/2002 pg. 664 (EAN 9780152168070, Hardcover) School Library Journal 01/01/2003 pg. 96 (EAN 9780152168070, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2002 pg. 80 (EAN 9780152168070, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2003 pg. 80 (EAN 9780152168070, Hardcover) Publishers Weekly 11/04/2002 (EAN 9780152168070, Hardcover) School Library Journal 11/01/1986 (EAN 9780671610951, Hardcover) Wilson Children's Catalog 01/01/1991 pg. 493 (EAN 9780805002133, Hardcover) Wilson Children's Catalog 96 01/01/1996 pg. 540 (EAN 9780805002133, Hardcover) Wilson Children's Catalog 01/01/2001 pg. 463 (EAN 9780805002133, Hardcover) Ingram Children's Advance 05/01/2001 pg. 50 (EAN 9780670899142, Hardcover) Publishers Weekly 07/09/2001 pg. 70 (EAN 9780670899142, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2001 pg. 245 (EAN 9780670899142, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2001 pg. 245 (EAN 9780670899142, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2001 pg. 245 (EAN 9780141312040, Paperback) Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2001 pg. 245 (EAN 9780141312040, Paperback) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/1991 (EAN 9780684193458, Hardcover) Wilson Children's Catalog 01/01/1991 pg. 493 (EAN 9780684180250, Paperback) Wilson Children's Catalog 96 01/01/1996 pg. 540 (EAN 9780679418023, Hardcover) School Library Journal 07/01/2000 pg. 79 (EAN 9781561632459, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2000 pg. 61 (EAN 9781561632459, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2001 pg. 61 (EAN 9781561632459, Hardcover) Wilson Children's Catalog 01/01/1991 pg. 492 (EAN 9780671636265, Paperback) Ingram Children's Advance 07/01/1999 pg. 15 (EAN 9780689831409, Paperback) Ingram Advance 08/01/1999 pg. 27 (EAN 9780689831409, Paperback) Wilson Children's Catalog 01/01/1991 pg. 493 (EAN 9780670771202, Hardcover) Wilson Children's Catalog 96 01/01/1996 pg. 540 (EAN 9780670771202, Hardcover) Kirkus Reviews 08/15/2013 (EAN 9780763665265, Hardcover) School Library Journal 01/01/2014 pg. 68 (EAN 9780763665265, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2014 pg. 78 (EAN 9780763665265, Hardcover) Wilson Children's Catalog 96 01/01/1996 pg. 540 (EAN 9780140315448, Paperback) School Library Journal 07/01/2011 pg. 119 (EAN 9789380028545, Paperback) Booklist 02/01/1996 pg. 932 (EAN 9780312136246, Hardcover) Wilson Children's Catalog 01/01/2001 pg. 463 (EAN 9780312136246, Hardcover) Wilson Children's Catalog 01/01/2006 pg. 681 (EAN 9780312136246, Hardcover) Contributor Bio:  Grahame, Kenneth Kenneth Grahame was a Scottish writer best-known for his celebrated children s novel, The Wind in the Willows. Prevented from attending university because of financial constraints, Grahame instead took a job with the Bank of England, which provided the financial security required to indulge his passion for writing. Many of Grahame s short stories were printed in the periodicals of the time, and were also later collected in Pagan Papers, The Golden Age, and Dream Days. Grahame s most famous work, the novel The Wind in the Willows, was originally conceived as a bedtime story for his son, and continues to be a beloved classic for children of all ages. Grahame died in 1932 at the age of 73. Contributor Bio:  Classics, 510 Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 - 13 August 1946), known primarily as H. G. Wells, was a prolific English writer in many genres, including the novel, history, politics, and social commentary, and textbooks and rules for war games. He is now best remembered for his science fiction novels, and Wells is called the father of science fiction, along with Jules Verne and Hugo Gernsback. His most notable science fiction works include The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), and The War of the Worlds (1898). Wells's earliest specialized training was in biology, and his thinking on ethical matters took place in a specifically and fundamentally Darwinian context. He was also from an early date an outspoken socialist, often (but not always, as at the beginning of the First World War) sympathizing with pacifist views. His later works became increasingly political and didactic, and he wrote little science fiction, while he sometimes indicated on official documents that his profession was that of journalist. Novels like Kipps and The History of Mr. Polly, which describe lower-middle-class life, led to the suggestion, when they were published, that he was a worthy successor to Charles Dickens, but Wells described a range of social strata and even attempted, in Tono-Bungay (1909), a diagnosis of English society as a whole.