This is a classic story about friendship that stresses the value of true friends and how they'll always have your back and your best interests at heart.
Positive Role Models
some
Toad's friends are cautious, responsible, loyal, and true. They try to save Toad from himself and bail him out when he gets into trouble. Toad is impetuous and irresponsible and steals a car and a horse.
Educational Value
a little
Gives readers a feel for the strict society of the British upper class -- as portrayed by animals. Also the dangers of stealing and driving a car.
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that the beautifully written, richly inventive adventures chronicled in Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows are best for children with patience. Kids may be more familiar with TV and film versions based on the original book. There's a bit of violence when Toad gets into a fight with the ferrets and weasels. A ferret shoots at Toad, Rat puts pistols in his belt, and Otter cuffs a rabbit.
A remarkable, beautifully written classic story of friendship, feeling, and impulse control, with plentiful messing about in boats.
The vocabulary isn't so much old-fashioned as advanced—Grahame writes with the complete certainty that his readers will figure it out as needed. I'm reading it to a six-year-old with an unusually large vocabulary and still have to stop to define a word once a page or so, and it's fine. There are plenty more words she likely doesn't completely grasp, but reading aloud allows the meaning to come through, and she's entirely able to keep up with the story. A few more readings and the context will make the meanings perfectly clear.
Also, good grief, "silly ass" in a book published in 1908 isn't swearing. It was quite an innocuous expression at the time , which is something you can easily explain to a child instead of having an attack of the vapors.
Honestly, I can't think of a book that's more fun to read aloud, in terms of language and character. It may be best for children who are adventurous readers and enjoy stories about the countryside.
The book uses the word ass at least 11 times and also other inserts such as stupid, fool, idiot. My 12 year old was upset
What's the Story?
Kenneth Grahame, who wrote this as a series of bedtime stories for his son in 1908, introduces readers to a society filled with animal etiquette. The underground Badger appears to be society-hating but does follow protocol; it bothers him most that vain and trendy Toad (the most entertaining character) does just what he wants. Toad gets bored with boating and finds a new hobby -- motor cars -- that results in a prison break, and a somewhat reformed Toad sees the error of his ways through the help of his pals.
A timeless classic for generations, THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS may be difficult for today's kids in terms of its language and pacing. But parents can help in a read-aloud setting. Patrick Benson's cross-hatched drawings in this edition are so similar to Ernest H. Shepard's original ink drawings that they don't add anything particularly new.
Wealthy, spoiled Toad has a way of getting his friends in trouble, especially when he gets a motor car, but he can always count on Mole, Water Rat, and Badger to get him out again. Friendship drives this social structure and this story.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the character of Toad. Do you like him at the outset?
Would you want Toad as a friend?
How do the characters learn and grow from their relationships?
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