The Wind in the Willows

Kenneth Grahame, 1908

Children's classics

Mole's escape from spring-cleaning begins a series of animal friendships and adventures.

Read the book Contents

Length: 12 chapters
Reading time: About 4 hr 5 min
Words: 58,274

About the book

Mole abandons his dusty domestic work when the movement of spring becomes impossible to resist. His journey into the open introduces a world where animals keep houses, make friends and pursue pleasures with recognisably human enthusiasm.

Grahame combines attention to rivers, weather and seasonal change with the comforts and complications of sociable life. The chapter sequence moves between home, road and woodland, giving different spaces their own emotional character. Its appeal comes from the balance between the desire to wander and the equally strong wish for food, shelter and reliable companionship.

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Children's classics

This edition

Text from Standard Ebooks, who proofread and typeset it and dedicate their edition to the public domain. Kenneth Grahame died more than 70 years ago, so the work is out of copyright in the UK.