Kenneth Grahame (1859–1932)
Author of The Wind in the Willows
About the Author
Kenneth Grahame was born in Edinburgh on March 3, 1859. When he was five years old, his mother died of scarlet fever and he nearly died himself, of the same disease. His father became an alcoholic and sent the children to Berkshire to live with relatives. They were later reunited with their father, show more but after a failed year, the children never heard from him again. Sometime later, one of his brothers died at the age of fifteen. He attended St. Edward's School as a child and intended to go on to Oxford University, but his relatives wanted him to go into banking. He worked in his uncle's office, in Westminster, for two years then went to work at the Bank of England as a clerk in 1879. He spent nearly thirty years there and became the Secretary of the Bank at the age of thirty-nine. He retired from the bank right before The Wind in the Willows was published in 1908. He wrote essays on topics that included smoking, walking and idleness. Many of the essays were published as the book Pagan Papers (1893) and the five orphan characters featured in the papers were developed into the books The Golden Age (1895) and Dream Days (1898). The Wind in the Willows (1908) was based on bedtime stories and letters to his son and it is where the characters Rat, Badger, Mole and Toad were created. In 1930, Milne's stage version was brought to another audience in Toad of Toad Hall. Grahame died on July 6, 1932. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: from Wikipedia
Series
Works by Kenneth Grahame
The Wind in the Willows (Illustrated): The 1913 Classic Edition with Original Illustrations (2023) 73 copies, 1 review
The Wind in the Willows [sound recording ∙ abridged] — Author — 36 copies
Mole's Christmas Welcome: From "The Wind in the Willows" (The Madison Mini Book Series) (Amoco) (1989) 29 copies, 1 review
The Wind in the Willows {video} 27 copies
The Wind in the Willows (Longman ELT Classics Readers: Level 2: 600 Headwords: Elementary Level) (1987) 16 copies
Project X Origins Graphic Texts: Grey Book Band, Oxford Level 14: The Wind in the Willows (2016) 6 copies
The Wind in the Willows (Abridged) 5 copies
Wind in the Willows Board Book Collection: River Bank / Wild Wood / Open Road / Toad's Adventure (1997) 5 copies
Wind in the Willows Story Books: Wild Wood AND Mole's Christmas ("The Wind in the Willows" story books) (1991) 4 copies
The Wind in the Willows (Classics Made Easy): Unabridged, with Comprehensive Glossary, Biographical Article, and… (2021) 4 copies
Wind in the Willows [1988 TV movie] — Original book — 4 copies
The Wind in the Willows Treasury 4 copies
Wind in the Willows (cartoon) 3 copies
The Wind in the Willows: Abridged Edition for Younger Readers (Palazzo Abridged Classics) (2018) 3 copies
Die schönsten Klassiker zum Vorlesen: Der Wind in den Weiden - Das Dschungelbuch - Peterchens Mondfahrt (2011) 2 copies
Fun O'The Fair 2 copies
The Wind In The Willows (Elementary) 2 copies
The Modern Library Collection Children's Classics 5-Book Bundle: The Wind in the Willows, Alice's Adventures in… (2012) 2 copies
Uncle Remus: the Complete Tales: Uncle Remus And Brer Rabbit, Uncle Remus: His Songs And His Sayings, Nights With Uncle… (2019) 2 copies
Of Smoking. From the Book Pagan Papers — Author — 2 copies
The Wind in the Willows VHS 2 copies
The Reluctant dragon 1 copy
IL DRAGO RILUTTANTE 1 copy
Die Wind in die Wilgers 1 copy
Wierzby na wietrze 1 copy
Dream days, 1 copy
Dragon Tales 1 copy
The Kenneth Grahame Omnibus: The Wind in the Willows, The Golden Age and Dream Days (including "The Reluctant Dragon")… (2015) 1 copy
GIÓ ĐÙA TRONG LIỄU 1 copy
The Fellow That Goes Alone 1 copy
Find A Way Back 1 copy
A Wind in the Willows / A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court / Black Beauty (3-Volume Set) (1984) 1 copy
Charles Dickens - Thoughts About People: "Credit is a system whereby a person who can not pay gets another person who… (2013) 1 copy
Non Libri Sed Liberi 1 copy
Panique à la crapaudiere 1 copy
Wind in the Willows 1 copy
The Wind in the Willows 1 copy
Det susar i säven 2 1 copy
The Wind in the Willows - Illustrated by Arthur Rackham by Grahame, Kenneth (2014) Hardcover (1800) 1 copy
Stories From Andersen 1 copy
A Viagem do Senhor Sapo 1 copy
The Wind in the Willows-Treasury of Illustrated Classics Storybook Collection by Kenneth Grahame (2013-01-21) (1828) 1 copy
Wind in the Willow — Author — 1 copy
Associated Works
The Illustrated Treasury of Children's Literature, Volumes 1-2 (1955) — Contributor — 471 copies, 4 reviews
The Wind in the Willows [abridged - Classic Starts] (2007) — original story author — 259 copies, 3 reviews
The Game Is Afoot: Parodies, Pastiches, and Ponderings of Sherlock Holmes (1994) — Contributor — 199 copies, 2 reviews
Pages Passed from Hand to Hand: The Hidden Tradition of Homosexual Literature in English from 1748 to 1914 (1998) — Contributor — 174 copies, 1 review
The Children's Treasury: Best Loved Stories and Poems from Around the World (1987) — Contributor — 153 copies, 2 reviews
Isaac Asimov's Magical Worlds of Fantasy, Volume 3: Cosmic Knights (1954) — Contributor — 130 copies, 3 reviews
Tales Before Narnia: The Roots of Modern Fantasy and Science Fiction (2008) — Contributor — 116 copies, 2 reviews
The Adventures of Mr. Toad (Disney's Wonderful World of Reading) (1981) — Original story — 114 copies, 1 review
The Wind in the Willows #2: The Open Road (Easy Reader Classics) (1988) — original storyteller — 104 copies
The Graphic Canon of Children's Literature: The World's Greatest Kids' Lit as Comics and Visuals (2014) — Contributor — 91 copies, 1 review
The Wind in the Willows #1: The Riverbank (Easy Reader Classics) (No. 1) (2006) — original storyteller — 65 copies
The Wind in the Willows [abridged - Chick-Fil-A Classic Stories and Essential Values] (2006) — original storyteller — 55 copies
The Wind in the Willows #3: The Wild Wood (Easy Reader Classics) (No. 3) (2004) — original storyteller — 55 copies, 1 review
The Wind in the Willows #4: Home Sweet Home (Easy Reader Classics) (No. 4) (1995) — original storyteller — 49 copies
A Season of Joy: Favorite Stories and Poems for Christmas (1987) — Contributor — 47 copies, 1 review
More Adventures With Mr. Toad (Kenneth Grahame's the Wind in the Willows) (1982) — original story author — 38 copies
The Wind in the Willows [2006 film] — Original book — 33 copies
The Open Road (Wind in the Willows, Book 1) (1987) — original storyteller; original storyteller — 29 copies
Kingfisher Christmas Book: A Collection of Stories, Poems and Carols for the Twelve Days of Christmas (1985) — Contributor — 27 copies
The Wind in the Willows: The wild wood (adapted ∙ boardbook) (1990) — original story author — 18 copies, 1 review
The Wind in the Willows #6: Restless Rat (Easy Reader Classics) (2010) — original storyteller — 18 copies
The Wind in the Willows #5: Sneaky Toad (Easy Reader Classics) (2010) — original storyteller — 17 copies
Little Treasury of the Wind in the Willows (Little treasuries) (1995) — original source author — 13 copies
The Wind in the Willows / The Willows in Winter [1995/96 animated film] (2001) — Original book — 11 copies
The Wind in the Willows Library: (Slip Case Set of 4 Titles) (1867) — original storyteller — 10 copies
Little Otter is Missing (Wind in the Willows Library) (1995) — original storyteller — 10 copies, 1 review
The Wind in the Willows [2006 film] — Original book — 10 copies
Return to Toad Hall (Tales from the "Wind in the Willows") (1995) — original story author — 4 copies
Shirley Temple Storybook Collection: The Land of Oz / The Reluctant Dragon — Original story — 1 copy
The Reluctant Dragon [1941 short film] — Original story — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Grahame, Kenneth
- Birthdate
- 1859-03-08
- Date of death
- 1932-07-06
- Burial location
- Holywell Cemetery, St Cross Church, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- UK
- Country (for map)
- Scotland, UK
- Birthplace
- Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
- Place of death
- Pangbourne, Berkshire, England, UK
- Cause of death
- cerebral hemorrhage
- Places of residence
- Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Pangbourne, Berkshire, England, UK
Blewbury, England, UK - Education
- St. Edward's School, Oxford, England
- Occupations
- banker
secretary (Bank of England)
essayist
short-story writer - Relationships
- Hope, Anthony (cousin)
Robertson, W. Graham (house share) - Organizations
- London Scottish Regiment
Bank of England - Short biography
- Married to Elspeth Grahame, with one son, Alistair Graham.British author and banker. Educated at St. Edward’s School, Oxford. He was orphaned at an early age and brought up by his grandmother. His family unable to afford the cost of university he took up a career with the Bank of England where he stayed until ill health caused his retirement, in his late forties, in 1907. During the banking days he wrote (and had published) essays and poems in his spare time. Among his books were Pagan Papers (1893), The Golden Age (1895), Dream Days (1898) and then… The Wind in the Willows (1908) which started life as a bedtime serial tale for his son Alastair.
Members
Discussions
Signed Wind in the Willows SE - 200 copies in Folio Society Devotees (March 27)
the illustrators of The Wind in the Willows - part 2 in Tattered but still lovely (August 2023)
Hand & Eye The Wind in the Willows in Fine Press Forum (December 2022)
OT - The Wind in the Willows - illustrated by Chris Dunn, Kickstarter in Folio Society Devotees (November 2022)
Mad Parrot Press Wind in the Willows in Fine Press Forum (September 2022)
Chas. Van Sandwyk's Wind in the Willows in Fine Press Forum (October 2021)
the illustrators of The Wind in the Willows in Tattered but still lovely (January 2016)
The Wind in the Willows in British & Irish Children's Fiction (October 2009)
Reviews
the reluctant dragon by Kenneth Grahame
AR: 6.5
Surprisingly, I didn't love this quite so much as I was expecting. I thought for sure it would be 5 stars. Still, it was good vibes for the most part.
- Toad is an a-hole. I feel we're kind of supposed to be like "Oh, what a silly rascal!" and get behind his turning over of a new leaf, but I didn't buy it, and he didn't deserve to have Ratty, Moly, or Badger in his corner. Toad in the bin!
- Badger and Mole are sweetie-pie angels. When we were talking about it, I said "I wish I were a Badger, but I think more of a Mole" and my partner felt that was accurate. Which is not a self-deprecation; I love Moly, I'll take it!
- You cannot tell me that Rat and Mole weren't a couple. Look, I'm all for normalizing affectionate, deep, platonic relationships — soft masculinity heck yah; toxic masculinity in the bin — but this is giving Bert and Ernie before Bert and Ernie were a thing, and I said what I said.… (more)
- Toad is an a-hole. I feel we're kind of supposed to be like "Oh, what a silly rascal!" and get behind his turning over of a new leaf, but I didn't buy it, and he didn't deserve to have Ratty, Moly, or Badger in his corner. Toad in the bin!
- Badger and Mole are sweetie-pie angels. When we were talking about it, I said "I wish I were a Badger, but I think more of a Mole" and my partner felt that was accurate. Which is not a self-deprecation; I love Moly, I'll take it!
- You cannot tell me that Rat and Mole weren't a couple. Look, I'm all for normalizing affectionate, deep, platonic relationships — soft masculinity heck yah; toxic masculinity in the bin — but this is giving Bert and Ernie before Bert and Ernie were a thing, and I said what I said.… (more)
This is the tale of The Boy, who is not at all surprised to find a Dragon living in the hillside. Naturally, the two soon become fast friends, and when St. George arrives to battle the Dragon, whom he's sure must be a danger to the countryside, the Boy, the Dragon, and the Saint hold a surprising contest...which just might end up satisfying one and all.
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Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 274
- Also by
- 81
- Members
- 32,121
- Popularity
- #608
- Rating
- 4.1
- Reviews
- 441
- ISBNs
- 1,647
- Languages
- 30
- Favorited
- 30