The Wind in the Willows
  • Published: 28 May 2018
  • ISBN: 9780241353431
  • Imprint: Puffin
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 240
  • RRP: $39.99

The Wind in the Willows

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The most popular children's book ever written, lovingly illustrated by John Burningham

The entertaining riverbank exploits of Mole, Water Rat, Badger and the incorrigible Toad.

When Mole goes boating with Ratty instead of doing his spring-cleaning, he discovers a whole new world. As well as adventures on the river and in the Wild Wood, there are high jinks on the open road with that reckless ruffian, Mr Toad of Toad Hall. Ratty, Mole, Badger and Toad become the firmest of friends, but after Toad's latest escapade, can they join together and beat the wretched weasels once and for all?

Kenneth Grahame began to tell the tale of the river bank on the night of his son's fourth birthday, but what started out as a short bedtime story soon grew into one of the most enjoyable series of adventures ever to be told in children's literature.
This beautiful edition is illustrated by renowned picture book artist John Burningham, whose wonderfully evocative line drawings marry perfectly with Graham's vivid text. And there are twelve glorious full-colour scenes, full of detail, to enjoy over again and again.
  • Published: 28 May 2018
  • ISBN: 9780241353431
  • Imprint: Puffin
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 240
  • RRP: $39.99
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About the authors

Kenneth Grahame

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.

John Burningham

John Burningham studied illustration and graphic design at the Central School of Art, graduating with distinction in 1959. Many illustration commissions followed including iconic posters for London Transport, before the publication of Borka: the Adventures of a Goose with No Feathers, John’s first book for children (Cape, 1963) which won the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal for illustration and heralded the beginning of an extraordinary career.

John Burningham has since written and illustrated over thirty picture books, that have been translated and distributed all over the world. These feature his classic and much loved children’s books including Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, by Ian Fleming (Jonathan Cape, 1964); Mr Gumpy’s Outing (Jonathan Cape, 1970) also awarded the Kate Greenaway Medal; Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne (Jonathan Cape, 1972); The Shopping Basket (Random House, 1980); The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (Penguin/Puffin, 1983); Granpa (Jonathan Cape, 1984) later made into an animated film and Oi! Get off our Train (Jonathan Cape, 1989) and various books for adults England (Jonathan Cape, 1992); France (Jonathan Cape, 1998); The Time of Your Life (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2002) and When We Were Young (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2004).

John is married to the illustrator, Helen Oxenbury. They have three children, three grandchildren and a dog named Miles. They live in London.