The Wind in the Willows

“All this he saw, for one moment breathless and intense, vivid on the morning sky; and still, as he looked, he lived; and still, as he lived, he wondered.” British writer Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows features a clutch of linked animal tales that began as a series of bedtime stories for his son. This children’s book, first published in 1908, remains a classic. The well-crafted tales in The Wind in the Willows are animated by beautiful descriptions of the English countryside. The stories revolve around several animal friends and neighbours including Mole, Rat, Toad, and Badger. The main characters talk, think, and behave like humans while retaining their essential animal habits. The action is flagged off by Mole’s decision to head to the riverbank one day instead of going about his spring cleaning. The Wind in the Willows was successfully adapted for the stage and screen numerous times. It was dramatised as Toad of Toad Hall by well-known British writer A.A. Milne in 1929 and became a frequently performed Christmas play.