The Wind in the Willows (Dover Children's Evergreen Classics)

It is interesting to read from characters' different perspective. Mole, Water Rat, Badger, and Toad represent different grade, and I think readers can reflect themselves easily to them. I enjoyed.

A great classic children book filled with short stories about true friends. It's a fun read for children and adults too.

After watching the Disney adaptation of this classic, I decided to read it for myself, and I'm glad I did. Here are my reflections:When you watch the Disney animated film, the title seems to be a misnomer. Not so for the book. The book repeatedly references how the wind has a voice of its own, particularly in the fantastic, "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn," chapter. The book seems to be a compilation of short stories, so you can skip some chapters entirely and not be left out of the plot. You can read the skipped chapters later if you so desire. They're wonderfully written, but to be honest, not much happens in them.In the movie, Toad never steals a motorcar. In the book he darn sure does. He goes to prison justly, but for some reason after his friends help him recapture Toad Hall, he is no longer pursued by the police, even though he is no less guilty of his crime and is even moreso guilty because of his defiant escape. In this way, the book has a loose end that the movie by Disney corrects. Unfortunately Toad's character is slightly altered in the Disney movie because of the way it ties up this loose end.The pace of the book seems to be very slow for a children's book and it's on quite a high reading level I would say. To me, this is surefire proof that literate kids 100 years ago were far more literate than literate kids of today. Harry Potter doesn't have near as high of a vocabulary level requirement as this book does. Most of the vocabulary is used to describe nature. Due to the slow pace of the book in which the narrator describes how beautiful the outdoors is, you really have to like nature to fully appreciate the author's intent. I don't know how many people in modern times really appreciate the outdoors. I sure don't. I hate mosquitos.The use of metaphors in this book is extraordinarily beautiful. The moon is anthropomorphized and described as deliberately and intently struggling to shine through the clouds to help Rat and Mole in their search for Otter's baby. Also, making a trek to the South is compared to checking out of a hotel, and strong smelling sausage is described as singing of garlic. This Grahame guy was far more of an adult author than a children's author if you ask me.I didn't really care for any of the characters other than Toad. I was saddened to see that he was left entirely out of many chapters. Toad was perfect comic relief. Sleeping way later than everyone else, not sharing his load of the work, claiming to do things he couldn't do, talking about how great he was, etc. The whole bit of Toad dressing as a washerwoman was great, and fortunately ate up a large chunk of the book.The high points of the book are its great and masterful use of the English language including its beautiful metaphors, and the presence of the fun and amusing Toad. The only thing it has that may not be so appreciated is its slow pace. The animals sit down to a meal about 200 times during the book, and the preparations for the meals seem overwhelmingly detailed, making you question whether "adventure" is a proper word to use in describing what's going on.This magnificent work seems targeted to upper class individuals who are bigger on manners and properness than action and suspense, although it does have a good amount of comedy. Great stuff, but not for Spongebob Squarepants fans.

Yes, I somehow got all the way to this point in my life without having read "The Wind in the Willows," which is widely hailed as a classic. I remember seeing the Disney version years ago as a child, as well as a stop-motion-animated version on television at some point, but never got around to reading the actual book until very recently. And having read what's widely hailed as a classic of children's literature... I have to conclude that this book would have charmed me immensely as a child, but as an adult I find myself questioning the logic of the story too much."The Wind in the Willows" is a story about a group of animal friends living along the banks of a river in England -- the soft-spoken and naive Mole, the strong-willed and determined Water Rat, the grouchy hermit Badger, and the egocentric and spoiled Toad. When Mole ventures out of his burrow and befriends the other animals, he finds himself being swept up in a series of adventures, from a dangerous trek through the weasel-infested Wild Wood to trying to keep Toad's sudden obsession with motor-cars from wrecking his life. And when Toad's reckless ways end up costing him his own home, the four animals find themselves banding together to come to his aid.As a child I would have found this book charming and cute, but as an adult I find myself sitting back and questioning the logic of the world too much. Part of this lies in the fact that the book can't seem to decide just how anthropomorphic its animal characters are -- they still exhibit plenty of animal traits, and some still live in burrows, but they seem to wear clothes, drive cars, own horses and pet birds, and some even live in ordinary houses. Toad is even mentioned to have a full head of hair at one point! And while having said animals have human-like traits would have been just fine in a book where the world remained consistent, Kenneth Grahame complicates it further by throwing in human characters. Just where is the line drawn between sentient creatures and animals in this universe... And perhaps these weren't pressing questions in the era when this book was written, but in my case it drove me nuts.The writing in this book is pretty flowery and ornate, which is to be expected from its time period. It can get a little wordy at times, but that does add to its charm, and it had plenty of wryly humorous moments as well. Its characters were delightful, and each had their own character flaws and their own strengths that played nicely off each other. Even Toad, who's by far one of the most obnoxious characters in the book, isn't wholly a terrible character and does show remorse for his actions.I've since learned after reading this book that several editions are published without two of its chapters -- "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" and "Wayfarers All." I can understand this, as both these chapters read more like short stories set in the same world than part of the novel proper, and actually break the flow of the story ("Wayfarers All" is smack-dab in the middle of Toad's prison escape, for example). Perhaps these would have worked better had they been included as extras at the end...I don't think this novel has aged very well, especially with some of the flaws in the logic of the worldbuilding and some of the uncomfortable classism present at certain points. It's definitely a product of its time, and can be a little off-putting to modern audiences. But it does retain a certain amount of charm, and I am glad to have read it.

Great book I remember fromMy childhood and am enjoy reading to my grandchildren.

Although The Wind in the Willows is described as a children's book, it perhaps may teach all of us who have long since "put away childish things" some important lessons about the good life. There may not be a deep moral lesson or meaning in the story, but through the anthropomorphic animals who are the main characters, we see what friendship, forgiveness, courage, sacrifice, hospitality and shared repast and conversation look like, endeavors which likely would benefit both individuals and communities.The length of the book (188 pages) and the somewhat sophisticated vocabulary make me question at what age this book would be suitable as a children's book. Certainly, it is advanced enough to hold an adult's attention. I highly recommend this book for adults and older children.

My Grandmother loved this book. She read the story to me many times as a child. As an adult, particularly in these times, it was/is wonderful. Thank you Grandma Mary!

the definitive version

Clássico da literatura.Vale a pena ser lido.Super recomendo.

Avevo letto in qualche recensione che il libro aveva delle belle illustrazioni, ma non ho trovato all'interno nessun disegno o immagine di alcun tipo. Le quattro stelle sono soltanto per il testo.La storia è carina, "Il Vento tra i Salici" è un classico della letteratura per bambini dei primi del Novecento. I personaggi sono dei simpatici animaletti come la Talpa, che incontriamo all'inizio intenta alle pulizie di primavera, che poi decide di lasciare la sua casa sotterranea per salire a prendere aria. Qui incontra un topo d'acqua che passa le giornate sulla riva del fiume e porta Talpa a fare un giro sulla sua barca. I due si trovano bene e trascorrono insieme molti giorni sul fiume....

gift for the young son of a friend. He's about six now.Illustrations just like the one we had as a child.But I did not realize that it was only one chapter.

Do you know that emotion...saudade. When your heart overflows with emotion from a memory of the past, that is what happens when you read beautiful simple storys.

この作品は日本では中野好夫の「たのしい川べ」という題で知られている。児童文学であるが、CDを聴いていると、まるで詩の朗読を聴いているようで心地よい。CDセットは6枚組（それぞれ20 tracks程度で、原書の1 page半くらいの分量）。ebookが付いているので、原書を購入する必要はない。聴きたい所だけプリント・アウトすればいいので便利だ。英語の勉強用に購入するならebook付きのCDはお勧めだ。ナレーターはシェリー・フレイジャーでTantor Media社ではお馴染みのナレーターだ。私も同社のAnne of Green GablesやPeter Rabbit and Friendsで、既に彼女の朗読にはお馴染みになっているが、相変わらず美しい朗読で感心する。彼女が朗読すると、散文も詩のように聞こえる。本当に川べの風景そのものだと思う。英語のリズムを体にしみこませるには最高の教材の一つだろう。