The Wind in the Willows (Penguin Classics)

Beautifully written, and even without illustrations one can imagine all the wonderful little animals and their little abodes, going from adventure to adventure, and learning how to be friends

This is the book my mother gave to me in 1952. I have always considered this to be one of my all time favorites!I am giving this book to my grandson this Christmas. I wanted to purchase it while it was still available. The book was used, but looked brand new. The supplier was excellent.Regards,Larry

Even more than Alice and Wonderland, this classic book written for young people is in glorious english with every word precisely chosen and superb sentance structure . During the book Kenneth Graham teaches the reader good manners and good characteristics in animals and people almost in a Kipling fashion . probably the most delightful book that anyone could hope to read

...but with nearly a dozen illustrated versions for the same price point I'm going to have to purchase an alternate version as while I can see these forest creatures in my head, I keep thinking how much more I'd like this book were it illustrated. Still a good book by Xist if you can do without the artwork.

Not the book pictured. The one I received was a cheaper imprint. Acceptable, but not the one in the picture.

The edition that I grew up with was what I wanted and this library system delivered as promised. I am very grateful for such a treasure.

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.

This is a classic, nice print, nice size, spectacular illustrations and a fantastic story with whimsical and wonderful characters.

bought for my 6 year old grandson for his Dad to read to him. they both enjoyed it tremendously. and I remember the writing and this edition had the original writing! A wonderful book for all ages! the illustrations are fabulous and true to the original ones!

Great to read

Bel libro abbastanza semplice ma ben fatto ! Con CD.

This is one of my favourite editions. The book is great. I had little issue with the book earlier but I contacted the seller and they solved it immediately . Never seen so fast response ever. The seller is Book Cob. Kudos to Book Cob! Thank you for amazing service and the book.

Piękne wydanie, przyjemne dla oka i liczne rysunki, duża czcionka ułatwiająca czytanie, dobrej jakości kartki. Dla uczących się języka angielskiego warto dokupić wersję w języku polskim. Zdecydowanie polecam:)