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Wild Wood
It's 1908 and times are hard. All very well for rich River Bankers, who can afford hobbies, excursions, and an endless round of pleasure, but Wild Wooder Baxter Ferret
has to work appalling hours to support his widowed mother and hungry siblings. Baxter
has a passion, though – engines – and when his employer buys the mighty
Throgmorton Squeezer, he finds happiness as its driver and mechanic. Until one night,
out of a pitch-black snowstorm on the edge of the Wood, thunders Mr Toad, the biggest
Banker of them all…
Jan Needle's richly comic re-telling of Kenneth Grahame's masterpiece The Wind in the Willows can be read as political satire, but there's so much more to be enjoyed. Though
the Wood is cold and unemployment bleak, it only takes an old sea rat with an
accordian and a nip of Daisy Ferret's special brew to get the stoats and weasels
partying – and plotting revolution. It’s a glorious, exuberant read, enhanced by Willie Rushton’s splendid illustrations.
has to work appalling hours to support his widowed mother and hungry siblings. Baxter
has a passion, though – engines – and when his employer buys the mighty
Throgmorton Squeezer, he finds happiness as its driver and mechanic. Until one night,
out of a pitch-black snowstorm on the edge of the Wood, thunders Mr Toad, the biggest
Banker of them all…
Jan Needle's richly comic re-telling of Kenneth Grahame's masterpiece The Wind in the Willows can be read as political satire, but there's so much more to be enjoyed. Though
the Wood is cold and unemployment bleak, it only takes an old sea rat with an
accordian and a nip of Daisy Ferret's special brew to get the stoats and weasels
partying – and plotting revolution. It’s a glorious, exuberant read, enhanced by Willie Rushton’s splendid illustrations.
- GenresFiction
208 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 11, 1982
About the author
Jan Needle
73 books33 followersJan Needle has written more than forty books, including novels for adults and children and literary criticism. He also writes plays for stage, TV and radio, including serials and series like Grange Hill, The Bill and Brookside. His first novel, Wild Wood, is a retelling of The Wind in the Willows with Toad, Rat, Mole and Co as the ‘villains’ - a sort of undeserving rural squirearchy – and the stoats and weasels as heroes. A new version was brought out recently by Golden Duck, with the original wonderful illustrations by the late Willie Rushton.
Although he is currently working on a film of perhaps his most celebrated children’s book, My Mate Shofiq, Jan has recently been concentrating on historical novels about his first and most enduring love, the sea, and a series of extremely gritty thrillers. His aim has always been to transcend standard genre writing, which has sometimes brought him disapproval. The ‘hero’ of his first naval fiction, A Fine Boy for Killing, is a borderline sadist, and life on the frigate Welfare undermines almost every heroic myth popularized by earlier writers. Loved or hated, his novels refuse to be ignored.
His thrillers are also firmly in the ‘noir’ spectrum. The most recent is The Bonus Boys, which features a hard-as-nails investigator called Andrew Forbes and his Scottish lover Rosanna ‘the Mouse’ Nixon, who first appeared in Kicking Off, a chilling warning about the fissile state of Britain’s crumbling prisons. More are in the pipeline, as are additions to a series of novellas about crime, the 18th century navy, and the secret world of spies and spying. Even the possibility that Napoleon escaped from his exile on St Helena is examined. Like many ‘mere conspiracy theories’ it uncovers some extraordinary possibilities.
Jan also attempts, in conjunction with Walker Books, to widen the readership for certain classic novels. They include so far Moby Dick, Dracula, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, and The Woman in White, all aimed at a young adult audience . In his spare time, he sails boats and plays a variety of musical instruments.
Although he is currently working on a film of perhaps his most celebrated children’s book, My Mate Shofiq, Jan has recently been concentrating on historical novels about his first and most enduring love, the sea, and a series of extremely gritty thrillers. His aim has always been to transcend standard genre writing, which has sometimes brought him disapproval. The ‘hero’ of his first naval fiction, A Fine Boy for Killing, is a borderline sadist, and life on the frigate Welfare undermines almost every heroic myth popularized by earlier writers. Loved or hated, his novels refuse to be ignored.
His thrillers are also firmly in the ‘noir’ spectrum. The most recent is The Bonus Boys, which features a hard-as-nails investigator called Andrew Forbes and his Scottish lover Rosanna ‘the Mouse’ Nixon, who first appeared in Kicking Off, a chilling warning about the fissile state of Britain’s crumbling prisons. More are in the pipeline, as are additions to a series of novellas about crime, the 18th century navy, and the secret world of spies and spying. Even the possibility that Napoleon escaped from his exile on St Helena is examined. Like many ‘mere conspiracy theories’ it uncovers some extraordinary possibilities.
Jan also attempts, in conjunction with Walker Books, to widen the readership for certain classic novels. They include so far Moby Dick, Dracula, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, and The Woman in White, all aimed at a young adult audience . In his spare time, he sails boats and plays a variety of musical instruments.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
May 10, 2014
The riverbankers in The Wind in the Willows are, by and large, gentle souls, living in a rural idyll and never needing to worry about where their next meal is coming from. Even Toad doesn’t set out to hurt anyone. He just has such a monstrous ego that he never considers anything but his own pleasure. But what is life like for those at the bottom of the social scale? Why do the stoats, weasels and ferrets take the great risk of occupying Toad Hall?
In Wild Wood Jan Needle wittily chronicles why and how the young animals are persuaded to have a revolution. There is no idyllic existence for them in a society where there is no job security and no income when an animal becomes unemployed. As the comfortably off riverbankers snooze and munch their way through the long, hard winter, life becomes desperately hard for those not so privileged.
When the committed revolutionary Boddington Stoat arrives he tries to instil political zeal into the woodland residents, but although the dour, ascetic stoat troops will follow him, the other young animals are only united in insurrection by the charismatic Chief O.B. Weasel. The workers’ occupation of Toad (Brotherhood) Hall ends in failure, but perhaps the concessions achieved make it all worthwhile.
Wild Wood was first published in 1981, but I was left thinking that if O.B. Weasel had been president of the N.U.M. during the Miners’ Strike, the outcome might have been rather different, the workers united and Thatcher’s government outmanoeuvred. Boddington Stoat, in Willie Rushton’s brilliant illustrations, has a distinct resemblance to Arthur Scargill. The book seems even more relevant now than when it first appeared. In this edition the narrator’s voice is more conversational, leaving readers to interpret the story and the animals’ motives.
If you read the book in the eighties it’s well worth reading again, not least because there are one or two entertaining additions in the update. If you haven’t come across Wild Wood before, it’s a classic that shouldn’t be missed. I’ve now re-read The Wind in the Willows and I see it differently. Wild Wood is written in simple, clear prose as the uneducated Baxter Ferret directly addresses his audience, so children can enjoy the story. It’s far more accessible than The Wind in the Willows. What’s more, although it’s sad, Wild Wood is really funny.
In Wild Wood Jan Needle wittily chronicles why and how the young animals are persuaded to have a revolution. There is no idyllic existence for them in a society where there is no job security and no income when an animal becomes unemployed. As the comfortably off riverbankers snooze and munch their way through the long, hard winter, life becomes desperately hard for those not so privileged.
When the committed revolutionary Boddington Stoat arrives he tries to instil political zeal into the woodland residents, but although the dour, ascetic stoat troops will follow him, the other young animals are only united in insurrection by the charismatic Chief O.B. Weasel. The workers’ occupation of Toad (Brotherhood) Hall ends in failure, but perhaps the concessions achieved make it all worthwhile.
Wild Wood was first published in 1981, but I was left thinking that if O.B. Weasel had been president of the N.U.M. during the Miners’ Strike, the outcome might have been rather different, the workers united and Thatcher’s government outmanoeuvred. Boddington Stoat, in Willie Rushton’s brilliant illustrations, has a distinct resemblance to Arthur Scargill. The book seems even more relevant now than when it first appeared. In this edition the narrator’s voice is more conversational, leaving readers to interpret the story and the animals’ motives.
If you read the book in the eighties it’s well worth reading again, not least because there are one or two entertaining additions in the update. If you haven’t come across Wild Wood before, it’s a classic that shouldn’t be missed. I’ve now re-read The Wind in the Willows and I see it differently. Wild Wood is written in simple, clear prose as the uneducated Baxter Ferret directly addresses his audience, so children can enjoy the story. It’s far more accessible than The Wind in the Willows. What’s more, although it’s sad, Wild Wood is really funny.
January 8, 2015
One of those books you stumble across that could have been written for you. A leftist retelling of The Wind in the Willows from the proletarian perspective of the weasels and their fellow travellers, rather than the parasitic Toad and his idle hangers-on along the riverbank. The seizing of Toad Hall can now be seen as an early version of the Occupy movement!
It's more nuanced than it sounds; the Trotskyite agitator character doesn't come across well, and of course the whole utopian project is doomed to failure when the weasels' own leaders (corrupt union bosses, Labour ministers?) sell them out to join Toad and his degenerate chums.
I love The Wind in the Willows, especially the weird numinous pagan stuff that gets left out of the adaptations but which fed into that fascinating and deeply English psych-folk-art tradition through Syd Barrett etc. But this was a book that needed to be written. And I'm so glad that it was.
It's more nuanced than it sounds; the Trotskyite agitator character doesn't come across well, and of course the whole utopian project is doomed to failure when the weasels' own leaders (corrupt union bosses, Labour ministers?) sell them out to join Toad and his degenerate chums.
I love The Wind in the Willows, especially the weird numinous pagan stuff that gets left out of the adaptations but which fed into that fascinating and deeply English psych-folk-art tradition through Syd Barrett etc. But this was a book that needed to be written. And I'm so glad that it was.
August 20, 2018
I've had this book on my shelf for a few years, but only got round to it recently - then devoured it. I loved it! It's basically fanfic, granted, but it's so clever. I have always loved Wind in the Willows, the Piper at the Gates of dawn made a huge impression on eight year-old me - but I always felt a little sorry for the weasels.
Wild Wood tells the story of Toad's obsession with motor cars, his arrest and escape, all from the view of the Wild Wooders who take over Toad Hall. It's beautifully written, and very funny. The dialogue is superb.
I've given it four stars instead of five only because the ending felt a bit rushed. But I highly recommend it for all fans of Wind in the Willows.
Wild Wood tells the story of Toad's obsession with motor cars, his arrest and escape, all from the view of the Wild Wooders who take over Toad Hall. It's beautifully written, and very funny. The dialogue is superb.
I've given it four stars instead of five only because the ending felt a bit rushed. But I highly recommend it for all fans of Wind in the Willows.
February 6, 2017
A wonderful socialist take on Wind In The Willows. Jan Needle's satirical and humorous view of the river bank community is highly entertaining and easily transposed to the world we ourselves live in. Found myself yelling 'Up the revolution!' more than once. I think I would have liked the proletariat to be incorruptible though; whiter than white - but then that's not real life is it, and this book tells it as it is, warts and all. A very entertaining read.
Read
August 9, 2019Wild Wood by Jan Needle is a retelling of The Wind in the Willows with a socialist bent from the perspective of the weasels, ferrets and stoats and other creatures from the Wild Wood. It took me a bit to get into the writing style, and it's bookended with chapters explaining how the story is being told to someone by our hero, Baxter Ferret, when really we could have just launched into the book with Baxter's voice and been happy with that I think. Small complaints because otherwise it was thoroughly entertaining and put a thoughtful spin on the events of the original. Gone is the bucolic idyll of Graham's book, replaced with busy pubs and a harder life for the poorer residences. As much as I love WitW, this one was a reminder that life isn't all messing about in boats for many people.
May 30, 2023
I would have written something like “as charming an evocation of pre World War One rural England from the other side of the tracks as Wind in the Willows is of the privileged set.” And it is a ripping yarn, beautifully written (I have no idea if the dialect is real but it is convincing), nostalgic, full of attractive characters with convincing flaws.
As it happens though, I read this after recently having watched a handful of videos of Noam Chomsky on politics. And now I’m become interested in socialism. On to George Orwell?
As it happens though, I read this after recently having watched a handful of videos of Noam Chomsky on politics. And now I’m become interested in socialism. On to George Orwell?
May 30, 2021
Closer to a 3.5. I never read The Wind in the Willows as a child, so I have no nostalgia toward it. The idle rich always irked me, so it was cool to see this retelling from the Wild Wooders' perspective.
August 27, 2019
A twisted tale, terrifically told by the talented Jan Needle
July 23, 2020
Amusing take on The Wind in the Willows with a decidedly Marxist slant.
June 8, 2022
I was looking forward to this but was somewhat disappointed. I found it all a bit of a bore. Willie Rushton's illustrations however are excellent.
September 12, 2024
This was a really fun read and satire! Great narrative voice :)
March 14, 2025
An absolutely wonderful retelling of the Wind in the Willows, told by an inhabitant of the Wild Wood. When the Wild Wooders took over Toad Hall, it was in fact a proletarian uprising.
October 10, 2025
It's a bit silly, but I liked the Animal Farm of it all.
December 20, 2010
A socialist The Wind in the Willows.
I hesitate to compare this to Animal Farm because Animal is undoubtedly the better book.
Nevertheless, it is an excellent 'Animal Farm' take on The Wind in the Willows with a very British resolution.
The subjects of social unrest caused by social inequality and bought to a head by hard winters make it quite topical.
I hesitate to compare this to Animal Farm because Animal is undoubtedly the better book.
Nevertheless, it is an excellent 'Animal Farm' take on The Wind in the Willows with a very British resolution.
The subjects of social unrest caused by social inequality and bought to a head by hard winters make it quite topical.
February 19, 2015
Astonishing, satirical and wonderful volte face. Gone are the marginalised stoats, weasels and ferrets of 'Wind in the Willows'. This is a socialist revolt populated with believable characters and enhanced by amazing illustrations.
Want to Read
March 10, 2014WHY IT'S ON MY TO READS LIST: Socialist version of Wind in the Willows; humorous take on the wild-wooders' views of leisure-class Ratty, Mole, and Toad.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews