Walking the Winding River: A Biography of Mr. Toad Creator, Kenneth Grahame

Paul Brody · Kenneth Grahame

Mar 2015 · BookCaps Study Guides

About this ebook

Kenneth Grahame never abandoned the idea that childhood should remain untainted and unspoiled. After his son was born, Grahame was determined to lavish the boy with all of the affection and magic that a Victorian child should have. Grahame spun tales of fantastic wonder to pass the idle time, and send his child to sleep.

 

Grahame later compiled those stories into a book, so that other children might enjoy the tales. Little did he realize that his masterpiece, The Wind in the Willows, would later become a cornerstone of children's literature. And unfortunately, Kenneth had no idea that his book would become a poignant memorial as well, earning his place in the hallowed canon of children's fantasy.

 

This biography tells the incredible life behind the man.

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, 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.