Toad, Mole, and their friends come to life in A Wind in the Willows

A few children’s books are on my list of 100 greatest 20th century novels, and this was the first I’ve read. A Wind in the Willows tells a couple years of some friendly animals living their lives. In the beginning, Mole feels some wanderlust and leaves his little corner of the world for an adventure, and ends up at The River, and meets Rat. Rat introduces him to Toad, Otter, and Badger, all with their unique personalities. There are adventures along the way, for instance the time Toad steals a car and gets thrown in jail. Each character shows different traits to the reader and others, and individually (and as a group) they exhibit all the human emotions that plague us.

This is a well written book, and reading it is a stark reminder of how childrens books have changed since it was published in 1908. Very young children will laugh at the antics of Toad, while slightly older kids will get more meaning from Badger and his practical approach to friends and life, but in both cases, the book isn’t dumbed down. It challenges kids to think a little more than they typically will in today’s force-fed picture books. My parents always read to my brother and me when we were little, and reading this was like stepping back in time.