The Enid Blyton Society

Hi guys

I was just wondering if there are any other Kenneth Grahame fans on here, beside me. He's most known for writing Wind in the Willows but he wrote a small amount of other books too, and I'm not sure if all of them are still in regular publication.
His other works include Dream Days (which I own and am currently reading) and The Golden Age, which I think is also in regular print. The others seem to have been forgotten however, I think anyway.
Anyone know better? Thanks!

I read The Wind in the Willows for about the third time a few days ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. I love the way his use of words like 'Nature's Grand Hotel has its Season, like the others. As the guests one by one pack, pay, and depart, and the seats at the table-d'hote shrink pitifully at each succeeding meal; as suites of rooms are closed, carpets taken up, and waiters sent away...'. Toad's boastful songs are hilarious but he certainly learns his lesson in the end. I haven't read any other books by the author but hopefully will in the future.

I love those bits too, in fact I love it all haha. Dream Days is very good from what I've read so far, its a short story collection all about childhood adventures

I've read The Wind in the Willows several times and I too love the character of Toad. As a small child I used to read a comic called Playhour which had a regular picture strip relating the adventures of "Toad of Toad Hall", based on Kenneth Grahame's character. Next to the story title was a picture of Toad - a different one each week - and I cut those out and stuck them in a scrapbook.

When I was about 11 I borrowed The Golden Age from the library simply because Oswald Bastable in E. Nesbit's The Wouldbegoods described it as A1! Like Dream Days, it was about children and the things they got up to. However, I found it heavy-going and struggled through it.

Thanks for that Anita, everyone seems to love Toad and his escapades haha!

And from what I've read online about both Dream Days and Golden Age, they're both reasonably similar, and I agree its quite dense fiction, yet the situations are remarkably simple. That's one of the things I love about Kenneth, his ability to convey such huge emotional resonance in the smallest of situations.

Thanks again for you're info! xx

I'm also a fan of Wind in the Willows and I can remember having it read to me many years ago in infant school. It's a lovely book and my daughter and son loved it too when they were very young. They also had the Playhour comic, Anita, which I'd forgotten all about until I read your post. It was a great comic with beautiful colour illustrations.

Eddie Muir wrote:I'm also a fan of Wind in the Willows and I can remember having it read to me many years ago in infant school. It's a lovely book and my daughter and son loved it too when they were very young. They also had the Playhour comic, Anita, which I'd forgotten all about until I read your post. It was a great comic with beautiful colour illustrations.

This Playhour comic sounds fab! What else was in that thing?

Click on the following link for more information about the Playhour Comic, Fred:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playhour" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There was also a Playhour Annual:

Thanks Eddie, Playhour looked like a lovely comic, and I'm glad to see Sooty was part of it as well

Fraid I never read Wind in the Willows.

I think there are many classic childrens books that passed me by.

Love the look of the old book, Eddie.

You really should read Wind in the Willows, Julie. I'm sure you'd love it and it would be an ideal book to read to your grandchildren.

Indeed it is, though I didn't read it until a couple of years ago. I'd grown up with the wonderful film version with David Jason as Toad/Chief Weasel, and the TV series which followed on from that

Confession time: I never liked Wind in the Willows!

Eddie Muir wrote:You really should read Wind in the Willows, Julie. I'm sure you'd love it and it would be an ideal book to read to your grandchildren.

I'd be a bit wary about recommending any books to Julie now Eddie. Remember her opinion of "Tom's Midnight Garden"?

Good point, Daisy, but I feel more confident in recommending Wind in the Willows to Julie.