Kenneth Grahame, página 3 de 9

A young boy discovers an erudite, poetry-loving dragon living in the Downs above his home. The two become friends, but soon afterwards the dragon is discovered by the townsfolk, who send for St George to rid them of it. The boy introduces St George to the dragon, and the two decide that it would be better for them not to fight. Eventually, they decide to stage a fake joust between the two combatants.

In Dream Days, Kenneth Grahame weaves together a collection of enchanting stories that delve into the whimsical and the profound, capturing the essence of childhood imagination. With his characteristic lyrical prose, Grahame blends elements of fantasy and reality, inviting readers to embark on a journey through a world where dreams and adventures come alive. The narratives, rich in descriptive detail, resonate with the themes of innocence and nostalgia, echoing the fin-de-sicle literary context in which Grahame wrote, as he sought to awaken the childlike wonder within all of us. Grahame, a Scottish author best known for his classic The Wind in the Willows, infused his works with the charm of his own pastoral upbringing along the River Thames. His profound connection to nature, along with his experiences in a world rapidly changing due to industrialization, led him to create timeless tales that reflect both the joys and the melancholy of childhood. These stories allow him to articulate the complexities of youth, employing a lyrical style that captivates both children and adults alike. Dream Days is a must-read for anyone who treasures the magic of storytelling and wishes to explore the depths of imagination. This collection serves not only as a nostalgic journey through the adventures of youth but also as a reminder of the importance of maintaining a sense of wonder in everyday life. Readers will find themselves enchanted by Grahames evocative prose, making this book a delightful addition to the library of anyone who appreciates the art of fine literature.

The Mole had been working very hard all the morning, spring-cleaning his little home. First with brooms, then with dusters; then on ladders and steps and chairs, with a brush and a pail of whitewash; till he had dust in his throat and eyes, and splashes of whitewash all over his black fur, and an aching back and weary arms. Spring was moving in the air above and in the earth below and around him, penetrating even his dark and lowly little house with its spirit of divine discontent and longing. It was small wonder, then, that he suddenly flung down his brush on the floor, said Bother! and O blow! and also Hang spring-cleaning! and bolted out of the house without even waiting to put on his coat. Something up above was calling him imperiously, and he made for the steep little tunnel which answered in his case to the gavelled carriage-drive owned by animals whose residences are nearer to the sun and air.

The Wind in the Willows is a childrens novel by Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. Alternately slow moving and fast paced, it focuses on four anthropomorphised animals in a pastoral version of England. The novel is notable for its mixture of mysticism, adventure, morality, and camaraderie and celebrated for its evocation of the nature of the Thames valley. In 1908, Grahame retired from his position as secretary of the Bank of England. He moved back to Cookham, Berkshire, where he had been brought up and spent his time by the River Thames doing much as the animal characters in his book donamely, as one of the phrases from the book says, "simply messing about in boats"and wrote down the bed-time stories he had been telling his son Alistair. In 1909, Theodore Roosevelt, then President of the United States, wrote to Grahame to tell him that he had "read it and reread it, and have come to accept the characters as old friends". The novel was in its thirty-first printing when playwright A. A. Milne adapted a part of it for the stage as Toad of Toad Hall in 1929. In 2003, The Wind in the Willows was listed at number 16 on the BBCs survey The Big Read (font: Wikipedia)

Mole and Rat have a pleasant life by the river, where they talk, boat and wile away the days. The wise and private Mr Badger lives sedately in the Wild Woods, content in his solitude. Then there's Mr Toad - wealthy, impulsive and utterly obsessed with motor cars, he's always getting into scrapes and can't survive without the help of his friends. One of the most celebrated works of classic literature for children, The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame remains a timeless tale of camaraderie, loyalty and bravery more than a hundred years after its first publication. With sixteen gorgeous colour illustrations by the celebrated Arthur Rackham, and an afterword by author David Stuart Davies.

Illustrator: Maxfield Parrish

Un clásico de fantasía do século XX que, lonxe de esmorecer, atrae cada vez a máis público en cada xeración. Un día Toupa, canso da rutina da súa vida, decide abandonar o seu tobo e nesta saída coñ

In the matter of general culture and attainments, we youngsters stood on pretty level ground. True, it was always happening that one of us would be singled out at any moment, freakishly, and without regard to his own preferences, to wrestle with the inflections of some idiotic language long rightly dead; while another, from some fancied artistic tendency which always failed to justify itself, might be told off without warning to hammer out scales and exercises, and to bedew the senseless keys with tears of weariness or of revolt. But in subjects common to either sex, and held to be necessary even for him whose ambition soared no higher than to crack a whip in a circus-ringin geography, for instance, arithmetic, or the weary doings of kings and queenseach would have scorned to excel. And, indeed, whatever our individual gifts, a general dogged determination to shirk and to evade kept us all at much the same dead level,a level of ignorance tempered by insubordination.