The Wind in the Willows

Kenneth Grahame

Oxford Bookworms LibraryLevel 3

A level 3 Oxford Bookworms Library graded reader. Retold for Learners of English by Jennifer Bassett.

Down by the river bank, where the wind whispers through the willow trees, is a very pleasant place to have a lunch party with a few friends. But life is not always so peaceful for the Mole and the Water Rat. There is the time, for example, when Toad gets interested in motor-cars – goes mad about them in face…

The story of the adventures of Mole, Rat, Badger, and Toad has been loved by young and old for over a hundred years.

Kenneth Grahame

The Wind in the Willows

THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS

�Do you know,’ the Mole said, �I’ve never been in a boat before in all my life.’

�What?’ cried the Rat. �My dear fellow, you haven’t lived! Believe me, there is nothing – really nothing – nicer than just messing about in boats.’

And so the Mole learns a new way of life with his friend the Water Rat. Long, golden summer days on the river, while the wind whispers its secrets through the willow trees. Life is full of excitement and adventure, and new friends: the Otter and the Badger, and of course, Mr Toad – the famous, the clever, the brave, the wonderful Mr Toad …

Well, that’s what Toad thinks, but his friends are not so sure. And when he goes crazy about motor-cars, he becomes a very silly, and a very dangerous Toad …

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First published in Oxford Bookworms 1995

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ISBN 978 0 19 479137 3

Word count (main text): 11,540 words

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e-Book ISBN 978 0 19 478656 0

e-Book first published 2012

1

The river

The Mole worked very hard all morning, cleaning his little home. He brushed, and he washed; he cleaned the floors and the walls, he stood on chairs to wash the tops of cupboards, he got under the beds, he took up the carpets. He cleaned and he cleaned, until his arms and his back ached with tiredness.

It was springtime, and the smell and the sound of spring were everywhere, even in the Mole’s dark little house under the ground. And with the spring comes the promise of change, of sunshine, of new green leaves. So it was not surprising that the Mole suddenly put down his brushes and said, �Oh bother!’ and then, �I’m tired of cleaning!’ Something up above the ground was calling to him, and he ran