Kenneth Grahame was born in 1859 in Edinburgh, Scotland. The adventure of Ratty, Mole, Badger, Toad and friends were created by Grahame for his nightly bedtime stories with his only son, Alistair. These adventures were published in 1908 as THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS and have since captured the imaginations of successive generations of children.
They have also captured the imaginations of successive generations of adults, there is plenty for 'grown ups' to take away from these tales.
There is great humour, great manners and a great lesson in humility.
Ratty, Mole and Badger are the grown ups while Mr Toad is the yahoo who consistently gets himself into trouble with his grandiose ideas and behaviour. A recidivist dangerous driver, a thief with an ego the size of a large building and prison escapee. Apart from this he has a couple of endearing qualities and the money to put on a slap up banquet.
There are 12 chapters, twelve adventures that are all resolved satisfactorily in the end.
This is a great read, and great fun. Not only does the book entertain mightily it supplies
my favourite quotation:
...there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.
The title of Chapter Seven was used by Pink Floyd as the title for their debut album:
The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn.
This is a mighty read, only 195 pages but a delight.
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