Cover art of the 1989 paperback edition (featuring the original artwork by Ernest Shephard, best known for his illustrations in this book and the Winnie the Pooh books)

(19) KENNETH GRAHAME –

THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS (1908)

“Beloved 1908 children’s novel by British author Kenneth Grahame, set in an idealized England of the late Victorian to early Edwardian Era. It details the adventures and misadventures of four variably anthropomorphic animals living around the banks of The River.”

‘Nuff said, except to note that those four animals are Mole, Ratty, Mr. Toad, and Mr. Badger.

And that it is based on bedtime stories by Grahame for his son, as well as that “has been adapted numerous times for both stage and screen”.

The highlight for me is of course the glorious paganism of the god Pan in the chapter “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn”. Such is Pan’s power that he has no connection to the main plot yet muscles himself into a chapter that is effectively a side-quest – hence is often left out of adaptations. Blasphemy! Io Pan! Io Pan Pan!

RATING:

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)