I was thrilled to find a sequel to The Wind in the Willows, so picked this book up. Although I thought it odd to be by another author, W. Horwood, instead of K. Grahame. I have mixed feelings about this book. At times, it was difficult to read....to follow as the vocabulary and writing was not smooth. At other times it was very enjoyable. I used this as a read aloud to my 8 yr old son. I had already read The Wind in the Willows to him. I would highly suggest reading that book before this one, since there are quite a few correlations that will just make more sense then. As far as the writing....I am no English major, I just know that it seemed odd. It seems like there were two different others as the writing style seems to change throughout the book. Some of the sentences are VERY long....like entire paragraphs that would contain more like 6-12 sentences. I know some of the content of this book had vocabulary that neither I nor my son understood, but we just plugged through the story and got the basic understanding of the main happenings. But, I do have to say, I was thankful when we finished it. On the contrary, some parts of the book, seemed very well written. NOt sure if the author was 'trying to hard' to be a good writer, instead of just letting things flow or what. But it was somewhat irritating, and at times, very much so.In summary, I think the IDEA of a sequel to the Wind in the Willows, is better than the book actually was. BUT, that is me, if you have a very high vocabulary, you may enjoy this book more than I. If you are an English major....well I would LOVE to hear your thoughts about this book after reading it.
Well lets see. This one wasn't available via e-book so I bought it in December last year. Today was a cloudy and rainy day to I decided it is the right weather and day for this book. This is a sequel to the beloved classic of Kenneth Grahams story The wind in the willows written in the 19th century. And one of my most favourite books. I have read it many times and the story of the Wild Wood,of Toad Hall,of the river bank,of Ratty,Mole and Badger is and has been a delight.So I was very curious to meet those figures again. Despite Horwood is not Graham,in my opinion he established to write a new story but remain the spirit of Graham. In his writing he continous the joy and magic of the original,each character is the same,so Badger remains the crumpy old chap with a good heart, Mole the heart-warm fellow as ever and Toad is still as exasperatingly lovable as he ever was. For me I felt at home with this book and concerning there are existing three more storys I hope I will enjoy the others as well :)
Do You like book The Willows In Winter (1994)?
Picked up in a charity shop - it did that 'look at me, you know you'll regret not buying me' thing! I was a little disappointed, as I expected it to live up to Grahame's classic. I guess a bit unfair & once I'd got over that, it was a nice story, on familiar ground & with the usual characters. Not as 'ethereal' & cosy as 'Wind', but not objectional & a brave attempt. I live/work by the river & the author's background also helped me to like the book! Overall I was glad I have added it to my list of books read before I die & I would indeed have regretted not buying it.[UK reader] The Willows in Winter
—Strey
Usually I am pretty skeptical of sequels not written by the original author, but from the very first sentence I completely forgot that it wasn't Kenneth Grahame himself writing this book! This is a PERFECT imitation of Grahame's writing! It just wraps you up all cozy like a warm familiar blanket, and sweeps you away to the magical world of the Willows. The illustrations are delightful. Every character is perfectly as they should be. They pop right back to life! Each story line is interesting, funny, whimsical, and perfectly woven together. I can't even describe... my whole being just trembled with happiness while I was reading this book. It's like greeting dear old friends after a long absence, and finding that they are just the same, and our camaraderie is not lessened by the years. I want to read it again and again!
—Kailey
A sequel to a well-loved children's story that isn't a patch on the original The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame but is charming nonetheless. The book also seemed to be split into two stories with a very tenuous thread linking them. I could see that this could be worked out in a film but reading it was a bit disjointed. It wasn't really the story though that the book didn't really succeed on for me, it was the characters.When we read a book we get a distinct idea of the characters within it. We may not all see the same portraits, either broadly or in the brushstrokes and herein lies the problem of a different author writing the same characters as in the original book. It is also the reason that films sometimes disappoint. The second author, or the film director, has not seen the characters in the same way as the original author and so no matter how good the story, how good the writing, it's just not what we expected and therefore disappoints.3.5 stars rounded up to 4 because all-in-all, it was an enjoyable read.
—Petra X
