The Wind in the Willows

by Clay Stafford (Adapter), Kenneth Grahame, Nick Price (Illustrator)

One of the true classics of English literature, here are the adventures of Mole, Water Rat, Badger, and Toad. Grahame's idyllic world is as fresh now as when they first discovered his enchanting tales, of Ratty sculling his boat on the River, Badger grumpily entertaining his friends in his comfortable underground home, and the exasperating Toad being driven into one tangle after another by his obsession with motor cars.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Fantasy, Childrens, Literature, Animals

181 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2014

About the author

www.ClayStafford.com

Clay Stafford is an award-winning author, screenwriter, and filmmaker. He has sold over 3.9 million hardcover copies of his children’s adaptations and has seen his film work distributed in over 16 languages. Publishers Weekly named Stafford one of the Top Ten Nashville literary leaders playing “an essential role in defining which books become bestsellers” not only in middle-Tennessee, but also extending “beyond the city limits and into the nation’s book culture.” He is the founder of Killer Nashville and Killer Nashville Magazine. Previously associated with Universal Studios and PBS, he is currently CEO of American Blackguard, Inc. near Nashville, Tennessee.

Reviews

[Doreen Petersen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful classic.

[Heitham Hammad · Rating 5 out of 5]

"That silly toad. All sorts of trouble he got himself into. Lot's of funny adventures though."

[Shaina Fertig · Rating 4 out of 5]

“One more chapter”! My 3 year old asked almost every time we read this throughout a day.

This abridged version definitely has more pictures, but having read the original it honestly doesn’t lose any of the classic quotable and notable things from this story which I appreciated! Lay Stanford’s goal at the introduction was to “has been carefully condensed and adapted from the original version.. keep(ing) well-known phrases, Grahame’s style and important imagery and heart of the tale” (iii).

As for the story, it’s always one of my favorites! The antics of frog, the adventures of little furry friends and their friendships. I think we’ll pick up the original very soon!

[Meg · Rating 1 out of 5]

I usually enjoy children's classics, but this one wasn't that good, to me.

[Mindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seth loved this one! We had fun creating different voices for each animal character.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally published in 1908, I counted over a hundred new editions published in the last two years. A lot of them are various Kindle editions, but still.... wow. In today's terms it seems a bit humdrum, but the story and characters hold up. Friendship, bad behaviour by Mr. Toad and some simple, fun adventures with Mr. Mole and Mr. River Rat. I read the original maybe 40 years ago. This was a shortened version with nearly half the pages having illustrations.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun little read. One of my kids would give 4 stars (he was very interested in it) and I give it 3.5. It was well worth reading this adaptation of a classic that is over a hundred years old! I think at times the story dragged a bit, but at other times it was so fun! Great read aloud if you can have interesting voices for the characters.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice adaptation with a picture on every page.

[Barbara Brien · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm sure the original work was superior to this adapted work. This was a good introduction, though, and if I have interest in the future, I'll look for and read the original.

[Debi Bourdette · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I'm ready for a grown up book. The last 2 were good reads for my grandkids. I think my grandson will enjoy this one.

[Rhea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this to my 5 year old son. It was a great adaptation and we both loved the pictures.

[Danica Midlil · Rating 5 out of 5]

We read this version since the kiddos were 4 and 6 and they quite enjoyed it. The illustrations were adorable.

[Jackie Palm · Rating 3 out of 5]

My boys really loved it! It does have some good lessons in the stories.

[Aaron Crofut · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've simply lost count of how many times my oldest son and I have read this book (or of the other adaptation we own). I'm going to have to find the full work at some point.

[Cheryl · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn’t enjoy the adaptation as much as the original but good for very young readers to become acquainted with such great classics.

[Cassie Cole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe the unabridged version is better, but we thought the story was just okay.

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good classic story for children and teens to read.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those children classics that I never read as a child. I believe I started it once and lost interest with the descriptive way things are with this book, I could see how that could happen. I believe this is a great story and I know I wasn't the reader then that I am now. It's a story of friendship and the great lengths we go to for those that are close to our hearts. I will read this one to my grand-daughter when she is a bit older.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I should have been more careful in selecting this book. I did nor realize it was an adaption of the original book by Kenneth Grahame. I passed it along to a friend's daughter who is 10. I am interested in what she has to say about it. I will look for the original book in the future.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't really like the book. I got bored at many time. The message was nice though, but the story skipped from character to character, making it hard to follow(at least for me). The books had it's perks here and there, but over all it didn't catch my interest.

[Cath Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolutely delightful...

[Curtis Jensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Makes me want to ride Mr. Toads Wild Ride at Disneyland.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and can't wait to do a unit study with my kids. They are going to love it! I plan on reading the full-length version as well. Highly recommend!

[Boo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The wind in the willows is an awesome book for any body pretty easy book with the words if u want to read a differnt book to read id pick this one.

[Demetrius Rogers · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disconnected, odd, and pointless. Didn't really care for this one.

[Debbie Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

A classic childhood story!

[Elizabeth]

I this book had a wonderful story and interesting fictional characters like Toad!

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book over at one of our Friends of the Libary bookstores. This is the second Junior Classics for Young Readers that I have read to my kids. The other was "The Time Machine" and we enjoyed that as well.
This is a delightful little story about Rat, Mole, Badger, and, of course, Frog. The only experience I had had with "The Wind in the Willows" was Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disneyland! There is so much more to the story than Toad, however. I love how this story went from Toad's adventures in one chapter to Mole, Rat, Badger, and their friend Otter, in others. I am eager to read the original work as this adaptation at times seemed choppy. There was not much connection between the adventures of all the characters or tying up of all their separate adventures, and I found myself asking, "So why is this here and how does this relate to what happens to Toad?" I said this simply because Toad was the one who obviously needed the lessons to be taught but the supporting characters begged to have their own adventures too. I just think they needed a bit more fleshing out.
Overall though, my kiddo and I enjoyed it! It was filled with pictures and humorous too! Good story!