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Wind in the Willows - which version?


momtoboyz
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Well, you've hit a hot button topic with me:). The original version by Kenneth Grahame (unabridged) is one of the best (if not the best) works of children's literature out there. Reading his sentences is like slowly sipping a glass of great wine. Between sips, you find yourself revelling in what you just tasted. Please, don't look at anything but the original. And the other posters mentioned getting a book with great illustrations. I've seen a few out there. Don't sell yourself short. This book is very dear to our family's heart.

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Newer copies change up the language a little, so Dolce Donum becomes Home Sweet Home, for example. This is a chapter title, so you should be able to check the table of contents on Amazon do see if they've changed it.

 

My favorite is bizarrely illustrated by Arthur Rackham, but Shephard is iconic and Graham is amazing.

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My kids love this one: Illustrated by Inga Moore but it is abridged (a few chapters were left out... the original text was not changed)

 

So what I did, was I borrowed the illustraded version from above and from the library and also got a copy that was paper back (unabridged) with few illustrations, I read to them the missing chapters.

 

Your kids may be different than mine, but I think the illustrated one really helped pique their interest in the book.

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We used the hardcover version illustrated by Michael Hague. This is one my favorite books that we own. It is beautiful...a delight to read.

http://www.amazon.com/Wind-Willows-Kenneth-Grahame/dp/0805072373/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233491382&sr=1-1

We love this one as well, and I prefer it to Shepherd. I too would recommend an unabridged version: the chapters "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" and "Wayfarers All" are sometimes omitted. The Hague edition, though newer, is intact and unaltered.

 

Edited to add: I was thinking of Michael Foreman, not Hague.

Edited by nmoira
mistake
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I would love one with the original text with illustrations (if possible). Is there one out there?
Sorry, I was thinking of the Michael Foreman edition, not Michael Hague (though the Hague is also gorgeous). Unfortunately, Foreman is OOP. The Hague edition does look to be complete and unaltered; and I can't imagine he'd lend his name to something that wasn't.
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