(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Sebastian Meschenmoser. Meschenmoser's illustrations--copious spot vignettes in watercolor and occasional lush full-page and double-page-spread oil paintings--convey both the humorous high jinks and the warmth of Grahame's classic animal fantasy. There's no shortage of illustrated editions of The Wind in the Willows, but this weighty volume is a fine one.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by David Roberts. The classic animal fantasy is reissued in a handsome edition featuring illustrations on almost every page. Roberts's richly colored art, with its elongated figures and decorative patterns, gives a very contemporary feel to the adventures of Ratty, Mole, and Toad. The chapter "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" is missing from this edition.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(2) 1-3 Illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard. Grahame's classic story of a sociable, genteel, poetry-spouting dragon and the Boy who befriends him has been reissued in a seventy-fifth anniversary edition, admirable in its modest presentation: sixty-four generously typeset pages adorned with Shepard's iconic illustrations. A cogent and fascinating introduction by children's literature scholar Leonard S. Marcus outlines the book's publishing history.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2013

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Robert Ingpen. A classic of English literature, the story of four animal friends--Mole, Ratty, Badger, and Mr. Toad--and their riverside adventures receives lavish, naturalistic illustrative treatment. Rendered in dusky greens, earthy browns, and firelit golds, the full-page paintings and spot art perfectly capture slightly sinister woodland environs and cozy underground interiors. Less anthropomorphized than in other illustrated editions, these animals still brim with personality.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(4) 4-6 Oxford Children's Classics series. These budget-priced unabridged volumes, compact and sturdily bound with glossy-finished covers, have pleasant but bland cover illustrations and a uniform design. A short "about the author" is included in each. Review covers these Oxford Children's Classics titles: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Wind in the Willows, and Party Shoes.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(3) K-3 Adapted by Inga Moore. Illustrated by Inga Moore. New illustrations accompany this abridgment of the classic tale of an unlikely friendship between a boy and a prim, poetry-loving dragon, who fakes a fight with knight St. George to placate the thrill-hungry villagers. The colored-pencil and ink illustrations, primarily in greens and browns, nicely play up the story's realistic elements--the boy's humility, the modest village--instead of the blustery bits.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Inga Moore. Minimally abridged, this edition of Grahame's classic was previously published as two volumes, The River Bank and Other Stories and The Adventures of Mr. Toad. This oversize book features a spacious design, large type, and precisely detailed illustrations depicting cozy interiors and expansive outdoor scenes. The format of this volume makes it especially appealing for reading aloud.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Michael Hague. Hague's style of illustration, with its detailed realism and nostalgic earth tones touched with color, is well suited to Grahame's tale of Mole, Rat, Toad, and Badger's adventures in the English countryside. The occasional art, both vignettes and full- or double-page spreads, complements the book's generous size and smooth, creamy paper.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Mary Jane Begin. In this handsome edition, each chapter opens and closes with a small vignette and features one full-page painting that interprets a dramatic event. Begin's precise, finely detailed style captures both the cozy interior scenes as well as the pastoral beauty of the story's setting.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Michael Foreman. Foreman's illustrations for this edition range from mystical, dreamlike scenes, such as the animals' visit to the god Pan, to comical renditions of the adventures of Toad. An oversize oblong with full-color watercolors throughout, the book has a pleasing heft and feel. With its glossy coated paper, full cloth binding, and detailed endpaper maps, this is an edition to cherish.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: December, 1999

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Michael Hague. While Mole and Rat are traveling one wintry evening, Mole discovers his old home, and as they settle in for the night, a troupe of young field mice entertain them with carols. This chapter from Grahame's classic novel works well as a stand-alone story, and Hague's artwork captures both the setting and the personalities of the enterprising Rat and the sensitive Mole.

Reviewer: Anne St. John

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Inga Moore. In a simplification for younger readers, the final four chapters of Grahame's beloved classic have been minimally edited. Centered around the comedic antics of the outrageous Toad, the text's illustrations are the raison d'être for its reinterpretation. Both cozy and expansive, the precisely detailed watercolor and ink illustrations are as warmly humorous as the story.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) PS Harper Growing Tree series. "Ducks' Ditty," from 'The Wind in the Willows', is given new life in this pleasingly illustrated board book. Kim's rich and textured paintings are filled with bird's-eye views of upended duck tails, an amusing perspective that might take a while for the youngest to recognize. However, the warmth of the artwork and the rhythm of the poem should help make it accessible to this young audience.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.