Publisher, Blackstone Audiobooks (March 2005)

NOTE: RETAIL EDITIONS are packaged in attractive, compact cardboard or jewel-case shrink-wrapped boxes, with full-color art.

The Wind in the Willows is a book for those "who keep the spirit of youth alive in them; of life, sunshine, running water, woodlands, dusty roads, winter firesides." So wrote Kenneth Grahame of his timeless tale of Rat, Mole, Badger, and Toad in their lyrical world of gurgling rivers and whispering reeds, a world that is both beautiful and benevolently ordered. But it is also a world threatened by dark forces-"the Terror of the Wild Wood" with its "wicked little faces" and "glances of malice and hatred"-and defended by the mysterious Piper at the Gates of Dawn. In the end, Grahame triumphantly succeeds in conveying his most precious theme: the miracle of loyalty and friendship.

Since its first publication in 1908, generations of adults and children have cherished this classic. A.A. Milne described it as "a Household Book; a book which everybody in the household loves, and quotes continually; a book which is read aloud to every new guest and is regarded as the touchstone of his worth."

About the Author: Kenneth Grahame (1859-1932), Scottish-born author, was raised by his grandmother in Berkshire, England, along the banks of the Thames River. He was educated at Oxford and then worked for the Bank of England. As a pastime, he wrote light nonfiction and articles for newspapers. The Wind in the Willows (1908), originally written as letters to his son, established him as a writer of children's books and had a deep influence on fantasy literature.