The Wind in the Willows (1908) is a novel by Kenneth Grahame about four animal friends on an English riverbank: the gentle Mole, the poetic Water Rat, the wise Badger and the reckless, boastful Mr. Toad of Toad Hall.
The story
One spring day Mole abandons his cleaning and comes up into the sunlight, where he meets the Water Rat, who teaches him the pleasures of the river and of 'messing about in boats'. They visit Toad, rich and fickle, who has just discovered motor-cars.
Toad steals a car and is sent to prison, escapes dressed as a washerwoman, and returns to find Toad Hall occupied by the weasels and stoats of the Wild Wood. With Badger, Rat and Mole, he wins it back.
Bedtime stories
The adventures of Toad began as bedtime stories for Grahame's son Alastair, and continued in letters written to him in 1907 while he was on holiday.
The book was published in October 1908. American publishers had refused it, and some British reviewers, expecting another book like The Golden Age, were disappointed.
Classic
Its reputation grew over the years, helped by A. A. Milne's stage adaptation Toad of Toad Hall (1929) and the illustrations of E. H. Shepard (1931) and Arthur Rackham (1940).
It is loved for its humour, its love of the countryside and the mystical chapter The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, in which Rat and Mole meet the god Pan.
Anecdotes
Theodore Roosevelt's letter
President Theodore Roosevelt wrote to Grahame that he had read the book again and again, and helped persuade the publisher Scribner's to bring it out in the United States.
A Pink Floyd album
The title of the chapter The Piper at the Gates of Dawn was borrowed by Pink Floyd for their first album in 1967.
Frequently asked questions
Who are the main characters?
Mole, Ratty the Water Rat, Badger and Mr. Toad of Toad Hall.
What does Toad love?
Each new craze in turn: boating, caravans, and above all motor-cars, which lead him into trouble.
Where does the story take place?
On the banks of an English river inspired by the Thames, and in the Wild Wood nearby.