Oxford Children S Classics The Wind In The Willows

This Oxford Children's Classic features the complete unabridged text, an introduction by M.G. Leonard, and other bonus material including insights for readers, facts, activities, and more . . . One morning Mole, sick and tired of spring cleaning, leaves his burrow and heads to the river. Here he meets Ratty and their friendship turns his quiet, orderly life into one of fabulous adventure.

The Wind in the Willows is a children's book by novelist Kenneth Grahame. It depicts the story and journeys of four animals: Mole, Rat, Toad and Badger, all living in a colorful countryside England.

Kenneth Grahame's classic story of adventure and loyalty has been stunningly re-imagined through the illustrations of David Roberts.

The escapades of four animal friends, Toad, Mole, Rat, and Badger, who live along a river in the English countryside.

The Wind in the Willows is one of the most familiar and best-loved of the great milestones of children's literature. It is the story that Michael Foreman has always wanted to illustrate, and his enthusiasm for the tale is conveyed in luminous, vibrant artwork. This fully illustrated and unabridged edition brings a fresh perspective to the timeless tale of the river bank, introducing Ratty, Mole, Mr Badger and of course the irrepressible Toad, to a new generation of children.

Kenneth Grahame 8 March 1859 - 6 July 1932) was a British writer, most famous for The Wind in the Willows (1908), one of the classics of children's literature. He also wrote The Reluctant Dragon; both books were later adapted into Disney films Kenneth Grahame was born on 8 March (1859) in Edinburgh, Scotland. When he was a little more than a year old, his father, an advocate, received an appointment as sheriff-substitute in Argyllshire at Inveraray on Loch Fyne. Kenneth loved the sea and was happy there, but when he was 5, his mother died from complications of childbirth, and his father, who had a drinking problem, gave over care of Kenneth, his brother Willie, his sister Helen and the new baby Roland to Granny Ingles, the children's grandmother, in Cookham Dean in the village of Cookham in Berkshire. There the children lived in a spacious, if dilapidated, home, "The Mount", on spacious grounds in idyllic surroundings, and were introduced to the riverside and boating by their uncle, David Ingles, curate at Cookham Dean church. This delightful ambiance, particularly Quarry Wood and the River Thames, is believed, by Peter Green, his biographer, to have inspired the setting for The Wind in the Willows. He was an outstanding pupil at St Edward's School in Oxford. During his early years at St. Edwards, a sports regimen had not been established and the boys had freedom to explore the old city with its quaint shops, historic buildings, and cobblestone streets, St Giles' Fair, the idyllic upper reaches of the River Thames, and the nearby countryside.

Here today, up and off to somewhere else tomorrow! Toad has always been a silly sort of fellow. But when his latest obsession with motor cars - the faster the better - threatens to lead him to disaster, it is up to Toad's good friends Mole, Ratty and Badger to get him under control. Can they save Toad from prison, and his home Toad Hall from the wicked Weasels and Stoats? Adventure abounds in this classic story of friendship.

Since its publication in 1908, Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows has enchanted readers, young and old. This new edition, sensitively abridged and exquisitely illustrated by Inga Moore, is sure to win over a new generation of fans. Here readers will meet the amiable Mole, his hearty friend the Water Rat, the genial Badger, and, of course, the irrepressible Mr. Toad, and enjoy some of the most memorable adventures in children's literature. Classic, yet accessible, and full of humor, this beautiful volume is the perfect addition to every family's bookshelf. Book jacket.