Mole, Ratty, Toad, and Badger are back for more rollicking adventures in this sequel to The Wind in the Willows. With lavish illustrations by Clint Young, Jacqueline Kelly masterfully evokes the magic of Kenneth Grahame's beloved children's classic and brings it to life for a whole new generation.
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful.
A Lovely Return to Kenneth Grahame's 'The Wind in the Willows'
By Grady Harp
It is difficult to believe that it has been over 100 years since the original book `The Wind in the Willows', a classic of children's literature by Kenneth Grahame was first published in 1908. That novel children's book, alternately slow moving and languid and fast paced as in wild adventures, focused on four anthropomorphized animal characters - Mole, Ratty, Toad and Badger -in a pastoral version of England. That novel is notable for its mixture of mysticism, adventure, morality, and camaraderie and celebrated for its evocation of the nature of the Thames valley.Now 104 years latter Jacquelyn Kelly takes up the banner by writing a sequel, The Return to the Willows. She keeps the same characters and adds some (badger, weasel, hedgehog, and the female rat Matilde) and though the book starts with the same ride on the river with Ratty and Mole, the adventures they encounter are new and for the most part successful. Toad's wild ride has now become an adventure in a balloon ride that seems to be the focus of this set of stories. Kelly writes well, but she has taken on an aspect of her writing (Kelly was born in New Zealand, raised in Canada, and now lives in Texas!) that makes her find it necessary to dumb down certain parts for American readers, even stating that fact in her footnotes. For instance, page 95 footnote: `Biscuits: cookies. To further confuse the issue, what Americans refer to as biscuits are actually more like scones.' On page 50, 'Indeed. Or as they say in America, no kidding.' It is a trait some may find `cute' but it does suggest to the child reading or hearing these stories for the first time the Americans are of lower intelligence than their British counterparts.The illustrations by Clint Young, an immensely gifted artist, are excellent - even in the black and white versions that are part of this Advanced Reader Edition from the Vine Program of Amazon. One can only imagine how fine they will be in full color!In all, this is a very successful sequel to one of the most beloved children's books. And it may be that Jacquelyn Kelly will want to reconsider some of the snide remarks in her footnotes, for doing so will likely increase sales in the USA. That is the reason for four stars as opposed to five. Grady Harp, August 12
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful.Read it aloud
By Amazon Customer
The best way to read this book is out loud and using lots of fun voices for the characters. Even if you are reading it alone read it aloud. But even better would be to read it with a child. My son loved Frog and Toad as a child and I suspect he will really reading this new version to his son.Kelly was very brave to try to write a sequel to the Wind in the Willows. Just reading through it for fun, I think that it is well written and the illustrations are fairly well done.The rhythm of the words seem to trip off the tongue like The Wind in the Willows and that immediately brought back some great times reading with my sons. We still have some family quotes and fun sayings from those days that get brought up now and then. It is probably a good thing to try to keep the fun going, just so the kids are still reading Frog and Toad from a young age.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
Kelly Picks up Where Grahame Left Off
By KidsReads
Have you ever wondered what happened to Toad, Mole, Rat and Badger, the characters from Kenneth Grahame's THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS? Well, wonder no more.Author Jacqueline Kelly brings us a sequel to this beloved children's classic, starring these favorite characters along with a few new ones.In this sequel, Toad once again manages to get himself into a bit of trouble (doesn't he always?) with episodes involving a hot air balloon and a trip to Trinity College of Cambridge University. But, in the process, Toad's nephew, Humphrey, gets caught up in the drama and ends up in a bit of trouble, as well. It all works out in the end, of course, but there is plenty of action and a bit of drama along the way up to the conclusion of the tale.Kelly includes a lot of useful, and often witty, footnotes to explain various words and passages in the text. For instance, in a footnote to explain the meaning of the phrase "making book," the author says this: "Making book: taking bets. Now aren't you glad you've got helpful commentary? You probably thought you didn't need it, right?" In addition, each chapter has at least one detailed and captivating illustration by Clint Young.Jacqueline Kelly, a Newbery Honor-winner, does a masterful job of recreating the tone of the original story, capturing the essence of the original characters and showing what might have happened to our friends if Grahame had written the sequel himself. If you've read the original story, you will certainly be missing out on some fun if you don't read this sequel. If you've never read the original, you can either read it first to acquaint yourself with the characters or just jump right into this tale. As the author puts it: "You can come along if you promise to keep up, but no moaning about being lost."Reviewed by Christine M. Irvin
