Today is Kenneth Grahame’s birthday (1859-1903) . I tend to have the following attitude about Tolkien and C.S. Lewis; however, here’s what a fellow author thought of Grahame’s book:

“One does not argue about The Wind in the Willows. The young man gives it to the girl with whom he is in love, and, if she does not like it, asks her to return his letters. The older man tries it on his nephew, and alters his will accordingly. The book is a test of character. We can’t criticize it, because it is criticizing us. But I must give you one word of warning. When you sit down to it, don’t be so ridiculous as to suppose that you are sitting in judgment on my taste, or on the art of Kenneth Grahame. You are merely sitting in judgment on yourself. You may be worthy: I don’t know, But it is you who are on trial.”
A. A. Milne

I think of Wind in the Willows and I picture several scenes: Mole and Rat boating down the river, Toad in his motor-car, Mole spring cleaning, the carolers coming to sing to Mole on Christmas Eve, Toad in jail, Toad dressed up as a washer-woman, poor Mole missing andd searching for his own home. If the book is judging me as to whether I have the good taste to appreciate its stories and characters, I think I pass the test.