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Our delightful buddy read for June is the enchanting The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame.

Who's going on adventure with us this month?

I'm in on this one. I didn't read this book as a child. Here's my edition:
, published in 1960.

I have downloaded a copy from my library. Cannot at this moment put my hands on my own copy with illustrations. I’m definitely in.

Well that was delightful! The characters were charming and there was quite a bit more action than I thought there would be. Toad's adventures were hilarious (view spoiler)[(except the dungeon) (hide spoiler)] and the (view spoiler)[battle to get Toad Hall back from the stoats and weasels (hide spoiler)] was exciting.

I imagine the author Brian Jacques who wrote Redwall was inspired by this book. My daughter loved his books when she was in elementary school.

Mr. Toad is quite a character!

I'm in too. Will begin in a day or two.

I’m definitely joining you for this one. I had an abridged version as a child and have seen many TV versions and even a stage play, but never got round to reading the original. I’m looking forward to it.

Welcome aboard, everyone! It's a fun journey!

I tried this last year, but unfortunately, I have never since childhood enjoyed anthropomorphic animal tales where the animal characters not only talk like humans but also wear human clothing, so its reputation as a classic notwithstanding, The Wind in the Willows was not at all to my tastes and in fact felt rather creepy.

We do all have different tastes in books, Manybooks. You can't like them all!

I think I will join this read. I'm in a reading slump and this might just be the book I need to get out of it.

I haven't read this one before. It has been on my TBR for a while now as it is on the BBC 100 books list.

I hope you get out of your reading slump, Shaina.

Count me in for this book. I am also finishing up on Jack Tales (which I think was last months children's book).

Great!

I started, and on chapter 4 now. Enjoying it so far. I find all animal characters really interesting.

They all have different personalities, don't they?

Rosemarie wrote: "They all have different personalities, don't they?"

That they do. I think that's what makes them so interesting.

I have started this book before but it didn't grab me. This time Audible offered a free version. I listened to it before realizing that it was a retelling. So I started the book again. I read that it was an allegory...so I read it in that vein. I believe that it is an allegory of money and power. I doubt I have it all figured out. I am reading a nonfiction book, just to juxtapose it, called Pawns in the Game

I read this one when I was a child and I remember it felt so boring back then. But that was the only thing what I could remember, not the plot at all. So this time I used audiobook and have to tell you, I found the story very very funny. Maybe this is meant more for adults than for children! :)

Could be!

I found this about frogs and found that it was interesting.

I would like to find something similar about each of the animals.
Badger
Rat
Mole
Wessels
Hedgehogs
Toad

Did I miss any?

Seems like men were who they played tricks on (the car, the train).


One of the things I noticed were references to the Tarot in the symbology. They are universal symbols as well but I connected them to the Tarot as well as the numbers that were used in the book. There was a lot of interest in the tarot at the turn of the century so it would not be surprising.

Lumi wrote: "I read this one when I was a child and I remember it felt so boring back then. But that was the only thing what I could remember, not the plot at all. So this time I used audiobook and have to tell..."

I did the same thing. I had a hard time getting into this story so I turned to a dramatized "retelling" of the story. I started to enjoy it and found the original and started from the beginning. It was very good to try to figure out the allegory. Considering the author was a banker I would imagine he wrote about things he knew a lot about...money.

Another book that is similar is Bambi: A Life in the Woods. Make sure you get the original. Don't mistake this for Disney. Disney changed the story feeling it was to adult. And Hitler banned the book (probably feeling it was too prophetic).

I wonder if anyone knows of another children's book written as an adult allegory?

Personally I have discovered this in The Catcher in the Rye. Read as an allegory rather than a "David Copperfield" kind of book it is about WW2 and more. It is about War, Power and Control by the Powerful.

I've just finished rereading this book and enjoyed it even more the second time around.
I think my favourite character is Mole.