Return to the Willows

Rat, Mole, and Toad’s adventures continue in this lively story that can serve as a sequel or an introduction to Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows. Jacqueline Kelly’s writing is witty, and the combination of well-developed characters with distinct voices and their humorous escapades results in an involving read. Kelly uses an advanced vocabulary in an appealing way. Readers may be able to figure out the meaning of unfamiliar words from context: “the Swift launched himself into the air and flew away before the Mole could think of a suitably crushing retort. (Mole, despite his many sterling qualities, was not always the most nimble-witted creature when it came to delivering the withering riposte.)” Clint Young’s luminous illustrations include sun-dappled pastoral scenes and characters in quiet reflection as well as exciting moments involving fireworks and hot-air balloons.

The author of The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate (rev. 9/09) boldly extends Kenneth Grahame’s iconic Wind in the Willows, bringing wit and imagination to the familiar characters’ further adventures while deftly re-creating the original’s venue and flavor, and adding some appealing new players. Humphrey, “by temperament a bookish child” (if a toad), is far more sensible than his impulsive, outlandishly cocksure uncle Toad, now besotted with aerial transport (a hot-air balloon). Humphrey befriends Sammy, a weasel, essential to a climactic battle with the denizens of the Wildwood -- as is Matilda, “a pretty little water rat with twinkling brown eyes, lustrous fur, neat ears, and a delicate muzzle,” who bakes a “Trojan Cake” to convey Rat, Toad, and Mole into the weasels’ stronghold. Gentle Mole, a bit taken aback by his best friend Ratty’s affection for Matilda, is eventually placated when he is named godfather to their later progeny. Like Grahame, Kelly is generous with an extensive and appropriately British vocabulary, which she lightens (and often elucidates) in chatty footnotes. She tempers Grahame’s strong sense of class elitism: Badger’s militaristic rigor seems less heroic now, while the true heroes are young Humphrey, a budding engineer; clever, courageous Matilda; and Sammy, unlettered yet conscientious and true. It’s delicious to find the old friends thriving in a rousing and well-wrought tale that honors its source while ringing the sort of thought-provoking changes that would indeed soon challenge their pre-WWI Arcadia. The finished book will include full-page and spot illustrations. joanna rudge long