Wind in the Willows

Kenneth Grahame was born in Edinburgh on 8 March 1859. He was brought up by his grandmother in Cookham Dene in Berkshire and went to school in Oxford before starting work at the Bank of England. He was unable to go to university because of his family's lack of money.His stories and essays were initially published in periodicals such as the Yellow Book and then collected together as Pagan Papers (1893). This was followed by The Golden Age (1895) and Dream Days (1898).The Wind in the Willows (1908) is based on letters and stories that Graham made for his only child, Alistair. The novel's popularity grew slowly over the years and A.A. Milne's dramatisation of the novel as Toad of Toad Hall brought it greater success. Kenneth Grahame died on 6 July 1932.

It is a book that breaks nearly every rule of modern children's fiction...it wasn't about fairies at the bottom of the garden, but it was about magic - just the right kind of magic. It thrills me still to read it—Shirley Hughes, The Times"Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.'' But reading about Mole, Ratty, Toad and Badger runs it a close second.—Michael MorpurgoPeople think of it as a children's book, but that's not all it is. What seared my imagination was its surrealism. The rat, the mole and badger could talk, but they could also change size: a badger could crawl down a rat hole, a toad could drive a car. At nine or 10 that fascinated me and that made a deep impression on my career—Terry Pratchett, Independent on SundayA book about the love of friends and the joys of existence—Sunday TimesI loved Toad of Toad Hall and his merry antics, especially with his motor car - poop poop!—Kenneth Branagh, Daily ExpressOne of our greatest classics and as true and entertaining now as it has ever been—Julian FellowesFor generations of English children, the gentle adventures of Mole, Rat, Badger, Toad and the other characters from The Wind In The Willows have been part of the magic of growing up—Daily MailIt is about magic - just the right kind of magic. It thrills me still to read it.—Shirley HughesSo what makes these different to any other set of classics? In a moment of inspiration Random House had the bright idea of actually asking Key stage 2 children what extra ingredients they could add to make children want to read. And does it work? Well, put it this way...my 13-year-old daughter announced that she had to read a book over the summer holiday and, without any prompting, spotted The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas...and proceeded to read it! Now, if you knew my 13-year-old daughter, you would realise that this is quite remarkable. She reads texts, blogs and tags by the thousand - but this is the first book she has read since going to high school, so all hail Vintage Classics!—National Association for the Teaching of English