Rediscovering Children's Classics: The Wind in the Willows

The Wind in the Willows

Kenneth Grahame

Cover of Willows from my personal collection

Summary:
Mr Mole lived a content and modest lifestyle until the exciting day that he meets the Mr Rat. From this day forward his life is filled with adventure and the acquisition of new friends. Mr Rat introduces Mr Mole to Mr Toad and Mr Badger. The four animals become friends who live and dine together as well as look out for one another. As Mr Toad's character is developed we discover his obsession with new and exciting modes of transportation. As he gets himself into numerous motor car accidents the friends try to stray him away from her dangerous interest. Mr Toad disregards his friends and runs away from them only to find himself in a series of risky run-ins with the law. He wittingly saves himself from several misadventures and finds himself back in the company of his friends. While he was away, much had happened in the animal kingdom, including the overtaking of his home by the Weasels. Despite the trouble Mr Toad has caused his friends, they team together to over through the Weasels and gain back the ownership of Mr Toad's fancy home. In the end it is Mr Mole, the humble character from the start of the story, that saves the day and shows admirable courage and wit.

Spine view

Personal Reflection:
Although I finished The Wind in the Willows as one of my first novels during this project, I wanted to save it for last. As time when on, i just couldn't wait any longer! Of all the selected books, this one was my absolute favorite! Furthermore, I was reading the book from a beautiful edition that was gifted to me when I was younger. As a child I remember looking at the pictures in this book but I do not remember much from my "first reading" of it, and I believe that perhaps I did not really read the text. Despite it's text complexity this book would be considered a children's picture book. It can be read in three ways. The first way is just the text (available in other, non-illustrated, editions), or by just the pictures, or by both the pictures and texts. The pictures and text are so reflective of one another. The pictures illustrated by Inga Moore in this edition portray details unmentioned in the text while fully supporting the text.

Text Features:
Using Scholastic.com I looked up the Lexile and reading levels of this novel. In fact, the levels are of the highest I have yet to analyze in this project. The Lexile is 1140L, the reading level is grade 8.3, and the interest level is grades 3-5. What these numbers say about the text is that it is an advanced read for it's audience and is best used as a read-aloud for children around grades 3-5. The copy I read from, with all of it's illustrations, is very supportive of this reading method.

Illustrations

The book has illustrations on double page spreads, one full page, and small illustrations to show detail.

Double page spread: Toad driving a motor car

Left: Full page illustration of Mr Mole and Water Rat in the snowy woods
Right: Detail illustration of Mole in a snow bank

The illustrations aid the understanding of the text complexity in this book. Difficult words throughout the book include: meandered, lingering, menacing, perished, despaired, conceit, ancestral, and consummate. These words would require proper scaffolding for a young independent reader or alternative definitions during a read-aloud. While such words are difficult they don't inhibit much of the understanding of the book. The book itself is an easy and enjoyable read. At 180 pages there is an illustration on every page (mostly detail illustrations) and lists of white space. Furthermore the book has a clear table of contents complete with illustrations. Although the chapters fit together to create a while, the book could be read, one chapter at a time, almost as vignettes. Lastly, in the reoccurring trend across texts this book also has a song in it. On page 150 Mr Toad sings to himself. His song is later sarcastically recalled by the Weasels who overthrow his home.

Timelessness:

This novel is timeless in because despite it's setting in the early decades of the 1900s, it does not seem outdated. Due to the fact that the characters are animals, the simplicity of their lives seems natural as they are not expected, by the reader, to have all the fixtures of human life. Furthermore the characterization of the main characters as animals makes the plot much more lighthearted. Mr Toad's actions are not always admirable. He steals a car, cons people, is sneaky and is deceitful with disguise, but the reader cannot help by still love and find him enjoyable. Furthermore the characterization as animals makes the final fight scene less brutal than it might have been if it were humans. Overall, the characterization of animals rather than humans makes this novel timeless among the many generations that have read it.

Adaptations:

Mr Toad's Wild Ride: Disneyland Parks