The Wind In The Willows - Kenneth Grahame

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Résumé :
The Wind in the Willows is a book of animal tales by British writer Kenneth Grahame. It was published in 1908. It was part of author?s writings of a series of bedtime stories for his son. The beautifully written work, with its evocative descriptions of the countryside, became a classic of English children?s literature. It is a story that adults have enjoyed as much as children. Tales in the book relate the adventures of several animal friends primarily Mole, Rat, Toad, and Badger in the English countryside. Although they converse and behave like humans, each animal also retains its distinctive habits. The Window in the Willows begins when Mole decides to go to the riverbank one morning where he comes across his friend Rat, a water rat, and they spend the spring and summer together. One day they visit the boastful Mr. Toad, owner of Toad Hall, who possesses large amounts of money but not much brain. Later, Mole and Rat go to the Wild Wood to visit the kindly and responsible Badger....

Biographie:
Kenneth Grahame was a British writer best remembered for the classic of children's literature The Wind in the Willows (1908). Scottish by birth, he spent most of his childhood with his grandmother in England, following the death of his mother and his father's inability to look after the children. After attending St Edward's School in Oxford, his ambition to attend university was thwarted and he joined the Bank of England, where he had a successful career. Before writing The Wind in the Willows, he published three other books: Pagan Papers (1893), The Golden Age (1895), and Dream Days (1898)....

Sommaire:
Scottish-born Edinburgh native Kenneth Grahame was a British author who lived from 8 March 1859 to 6 July 1932. His most well-known works were The Reluctant Dragon and The Wind in the Willows (1908), both classics of children's literature. His mother died from scarlet fever when he was five years old, and his father was a sheriff's replacement. It is believed that the author was influenced by the setting of The Wind in the Willows. In 1879, Grahame received a job assignment at the Bank of England. He advanced through the ranks until taking a medical retirement as its Secretary in 1908. Three bullets were fired at Grahame, but none of them hit him. He was driven into retirement, reportedly for health reasons. In 1899, Grahame wed Elspeth Thomson, a woman who was Robert William Thomson's daughter. Alastair (also known as Mouse), the couple's only child, was born blind in one eye and had other medical issues. In 1920, Grahame's son took his own life on a railway line. When author Kenneth Grahame died in 1932, he left behind a legacy that would forever make childhood and literature more blessed. At Holywell Cemetery in Oxford, he was buried next to his son Alastair in the same cemetery as his wife Elspeth....