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Synopsis

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

Ho! ho! I am the Toad, the motor-car snatcher, the prison-breaker, the Toad who always escapes! Tired of spring cleaning, Mole ventures above ground into the warm sunshine, and happens upon his friend Ratty. Together they picnic on the sparkling, burbling river, brave the sinister Wild Wood in wintertime to visit the bad-tempered Badger, and take to the open road in a caravan with dear, silly old Toad. But when Toad's attention turns to motor cars, his reckless behaviour goes from bad to worse. Badger, Rat and Mole must save their friend from ruin, and Toad Hall from the clutches of the rascally Stoats and Weasels.

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Reviews

It is a book that breaks nearly every rule of modern children's fiction...it wasn't about fairies at the bottom of the garden, but it was about magic - just the right kind of magic. It thrills me still to read it -- Shirley Hughes
The Times
Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. But reading about Mole, Ratty, Toad and Badger runs it a close second. -- Michael Morpurgo People think of it as a children's book, but that's not all it is. What seared my imagination was its surrealism. The rat, the mole and badger could talk, but they could also change size: a badger could crawl down a rat hole, a toad could drive a car. At nine or 10 that fascinated me and that made a deep impression on my career -- Terry Pratchett
Independent on Sunday
A book about the love of friends and the joys of existence
Sunday Times
I loved Toad of Toad Hall and his merry antics, especially with his motor car - poop poop! -- Kenneth Branagh Daily Express

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About The Author

Kenneth Grahame was born in Edinburgh, Scotland but in early childhood, after being orphaned, moved to live with his grandmother on the banks of the River Thames in southern England. He was an outstanding pupil at St Edward's School in Oxford and wanted to attend Oxford University but was not allowed to do so by his guardian on grounds of cost. Instead he was sent to work at the Bank of England in 1879, and rose through the ranks until retiring as its Secretary in 1908 due to ill health. In addition to ill health, Grahame's retirement was precipitated in 1903 by a strange, possibly political, shooting incident at the bank. Grahame was shot at three times, all of them missed. Grahame's marriage to Elspeth Thomson was an unhappy one. They had only one child, a boy named Alastair, who was born blind in one eye and was plagued by health problems throughout his short life. Alastair eventually committed suicide on a railway track while an undergraduate at Oxford University, two days before his 20th birthday on 7 May, 1920. Out of respect for Kenneth Grahame, Alastair's demise was recorded as an accidental death. Kenneth Grahame died in Pangbourne, Berkshire in 1932.

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