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zeldaah 's review for:
The Wind in the Willows
by Kenneth Grahame
Five Stars! Or something! (I always hate that stars part.)
I read this book aloud, nightly, to my kids who are 4 and 6. I read the unabridged version, not knowing until later that there is an abridged version lurking out there that doesn't relate the Piper at the Gates of Dawn chapter, a hallucinatory romp if there ever was one! (Was the chapter eliminated from the abridged versions because it isn't suitable for children, lest it inspire them to run off to the forest and eat mushrooms? Maybe!)
This story is timeless in that it relates themes of friendship and adventure and the beauty of nature. However, it's so very much of a certain time and place... it is permeated by a rigid class structure that seems perfectly normal to everyone in the story. (Yet, ironically, it holds up no barriers to relationships between species and sizes!) Very British, very Victorian, yet also reckless and Gatsby-esque in the character of Toad, one of the most strangely nuanced hyperboles I've ever read.
Anyway, if you're wondering, the four-year-old was largely disinterested; I think the language was too foreign. My older son, though, really was interested and very engaged with most elements of the story. I think he learned many new words, too!
I read this book aloud, nightly, to my kids who are 4 and 6. I read the unabridged version, not knowing until later that there is an abridged version lurking out there that doesn't relate the Piper at the Gates of Dawn chapter, a hallucinatory romp if there ever was one! (Was the chapter eliminated from the abridged versions because it isn't suitable for children, lest it inspire them to run off to the forest and eat mushrooms? Maybe!)
This story is timeless in that it relates themes of friendship and adventure and the beauty of nature. However, it's so very much of a certain time and place... it is permeated by a rigid class structure that seems perfectly normal to everyone in the story. (Yet, ironically, it holds up no barriers to relationships between species and sizes!) Very British, very Victorian, yet also reckless and Gatsby-esque in the character of Toad, one of the most strangely nuanced hyperboles I've ever read.
Anyway, if you're wondering, the four-year-old was largely disinterested; I think the language was too foreign. My older son, though, really was interested and very engaged with most elements of the story. I think he learned many new words, too!