50 Fun Facts About The Wind in the Willows

Which offence earns Mr. Toad fifteen years, the longest part of his sentence, in The Wind in the Willows?

Cheek to the police cost him fifteen years, against one year for the theft and three for furious driving. The clerk then rounded the total up from nineteen to twenty to be safe.

Although everyone calls him Ratty, Mole's best friend in The Wind in the Willows is really which riverside mammal?

A water vole is often informally called a water rat, which is how Ratty got his name. Unlike true rats, voles have rounder noses, chubby faces and furry tails.

Which British rock band named its 1967 debut album after the seventh chapter of The Wind in the Willows?

Pink Floyd took the title The Piper at the Gates of Dawn from the book, a favourite of singer Syd Barrett. None of the songs on the album is actually about the story.

Which disguise, bought from his helper's aunt, lets Mr. Toad walk out of prison in The Wind in the Willows?

A washerwoman who did the prison's laundry sold him her gown, apron, shawl and bonnet for cash. She asked to be tied up and gagged afterwards so that nobody would blame her.

Which Scottish-born author turned bedtime stories for his young son into The Wind in the Willows?

Kenneth Grahame began the tales at bedtime and carried them on in letters whenever he and his son were apart. Several publishers turned the finished book down before it appeared in 1908.

Which Disney park closed its Mr. Toad's Wild Ride in 1998 to make way for Winnie the Pooh?

Magic Kingdom in Florida shut its version in 1998, and a Winnie the Pooh ride took its place. Disneyland in California had opened with the original in 1955, sending guests on a reckless motorcar spree.

Which household chore does Mole abandon in the opening chapter of The Wind in the Willows to explore outdoors?

Spring cleaning leaves Mole splashed with whitewash and aching all over, so he flings down his brush and tunnels up into the sunshine. Soon afterwards he sees a river for the first time in his life.

In The Wind in the Willows, Rat tells Mole there is nothing better than pottering about in what?

Boats are Rat's whole life, and he says so while rowing Mole along the river for the first time. He gets so carried away that he crashes into the shore and lands on his back.

At which famous London institution did the author of The Wind in the Willows work for nearly thirty years?

The Bank of England took him on as a clerk at nineteen, and he rose to Secretary, one of its three highest posts. In 1903 a gunman fired three shots at him there and missed every time.

Which author adapted The Wind in the Willows into the 1929 stage play Toad of Toad Hall?

A. A. Milne kept to Toad's adventures, about half of the book, because they were the easiest parts to put on a stage. The play opened in Liverpool four days before Christmas.

Which sound does a dazed Toad keep murmuring in the road after first seeing a motorcar in The Wind in the Willows?

Poop-poop was the wail of the horn as the car tore past, and Toad sat repeating it in a trance. He announced that he had just discovered the only real way to travel.

Which canary-yellow vehicle is Toad's craze until a passing motorcar wrecks it in The Wind in the Willows?

A caravan, fitted with bunks, a stove and a bird in a cage, was meant to carry Toad along the open road. He lost all interest in it within minutes of the crash.

Which small animals, led by one carrying a lantern, sing carols outside Mole's front door in The Wind in the Willows?

Field mice go carolling round the neighbourhood every year and always call on Mole last of all. Rat sends the lantern-bearer to the shops with a basket to buy supper for the whole choir.

What does Toad knot into a rope to flee Toad Hall while Rat fetches a doctor in The Wind in the Willows?

His bedsheets, tied to the window frame, got him to the ground after he had fooled Rat by pretending to be dying. He even asked for a lawyer, which convinced Rat that it was serious.

Which snow-covered object cuts Mole's shin and tells Rat that Badger's home is near in The Wind in the Willows?

A door-scraper meant a doorway had to be close, so Rat kept digging in the snow until he found it. Mole had only grumbled that some careless person had left the thing lying about.

Which way in, shown to Badger by Toad's late father, lets the friends retake Toad Hall in The Wind in the Willows?

An underground passage ran from the riverside to just beneath the butler's pantry, next to the dining-hall. Toad's father kept it from his son because Toad could never hold his tongue.

In The Wind in the Willows, which name is painted beside the door of the old home Rat's companion sniffs out?

Mole End had stood empty for months when its smell stopped its owner in his tracks on a winter walk. He broke down sobbing until Rat insisted they turn back and find it.

In The Wind in the Willows, Rat warns Mole never to mention which place lying beyond the Wild Wood?

The Wide World is somewhere Rat has never been and says he never will go. All Mole can make out of it is a distant blur that might be the smoke of towns.

Which young otter's disappearance sends Rat and Mole rowing through the night in The Wind in the Willows?

Portly had strayed before, but this time he had been missing for days and could not yet swim well. His father kept watch every night at the ford where he had given him his first swimming lesson.

Whose birthday banquet are the Wild Wooders holding when four friends storm Toad Hall in The Wind in the Willows?

The Chief Weasel was in the middle of a mocking song about Toad when Badger led the charge in. Because it was a party, none of the guests in the dining-hall had a weapon to hand.

Which food, served with tea, finally stops the imprisoned Toad sulking in The Wind in the Willows?

Hot buttered toast, cut thick and dripping with butter, did what a plate of bubble and squeak had failed to do hours earlier. Its smell reminded Toad of warm kitchens and cosy firesides.

Who, being particularly fond of animals, takes pity on Toad and plans his escape from prison in The Wind in the Willows?

The gaoler's daughter keeps a canary and a squirrel of her own, and cannot bear to see Toad pining away in his cell. Toad, vain as ever, decides that she must admire him very much.

Which birds does Rat tease while swimming, then write a ditty about, in The Wind in the Willows?

Ducks get their necks tickled by Rat whenever they upend themselves to feed, until they beg him to go away. They think his poem is nonsense and wish he would stop watching them.

What does Toad steal from the barge-woman who has just thrown him into the canal in The Wind in the Willows?

Her horse was towing the barge, so Toad untied the rope, jumped on its back and galloped off. He later sold the animal for six shillings and sixpence and all the breakfast he could eat.

Who lets the penniless, disguised Toad ride without a ticket after his prison escape in The Wind in the Willows?

An engine driver took Toad aboard after hearing a tearful tale of lost money and hungry children at home. When a second train gave chase, he braked beyond a tunnel so Toad could jump off and hide.

Which young animals, lost in snow on the way to school, eat porridge at Badger's table in The Wind in the Willows?

Hedgehogs, two youngsters, had lost themselves in the drifts and knocked at Badger's back entrance for help. Billy, the younger one, had been so frightened that he burst into tears.

Which pieces of furniture does the locked-up Toad arrange into a pretend motorcar in The Wind in the Willows?

Chairs from his bedroom became the car, and Toad would crouch on the front one making ghastly noises. Each pretend drive ended with a somersault and a crash among the wreckage.

In The Wind in the Willows, Badger says his home under the Wild Wood stands on the buried remains of what?

A human city once stood on the spot, built by people who thought it would last for ever. Badger explains that the people left, the trees grew over the ruins, and the badgers moved back in.

What does Mole place at Rat's elbow to cure his urge to run away to sea in The Wind in the Willows?

A pencil and paper tempt Rat back to writing poetry, and soon he is scribbling away, deaf to everything else. A seafaring stranger's tales of southern ports had left him in a trance.

At which inn does Toad order lunch just before driving off in a stranger's motorcar in The Wind in the Willows?

The Red Lion's sign reminded Toad, fresh from his escape from Toad Hall, that he had not eaten all day. He told himself there could be no harm in only looking at the car in the yard.

Which US president wrote to the author of The Wind in the Willows to say he had read it and reread it?

Theodore Roosevelt, who was then still in office, wrote in 1909 that he had come to accept the characters as old friends.

Which future new wave star made her first album with a 1960s folk band called The Wind in the Willows?

Debbie Harry sang on the band's only album, released in 1968, which scraped into the Billboard chart at number 195. She co-founded Blondie six years later.

Which Monty Python member wrote, directed and played Mr. Toad in the 1996 film The Wind in the Willows?

Terry Jones brought his fellow Pythons along, with Eric Idle as Rat, John Cleese as Toad's lawyer and Michael Palin as a talking Sun. In the United States it came out on video as Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

Which director left a planned Disney film of The Wind in the Willows after being asked to give Toad a skateboard?

Guillermo del Toro was planning a mix of live action and computer animation in 2003. He said he bowed out when executives asked for a trendier Toad who talked in slang.

Which illustrator drew the animals of The Wind in the Willows for a 1931 edition?

E. H. Shepard, who also drew Winnie-the-Pooh, showed the author his first sketches and found him pleased with them. His drawings have probably become the most popular of the many sets made for the book.

Disney's 1949 film of The Wind in the Willows gave Mr. Toad joint billing with which Washington Irving character?

Ichabod Crane shares The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, which tells two unrelated stories back to back. Basil Rathbone narrates Toad's half and Bing Crosby the other.

Where in Scotland was the author of The Wind in the Willows born, before a childhood spent in Berkshire?

Edinburgh was his home only briefly, because the family moved to Inveraray when he was about a year old. After his mother died of scarlet fever, he was sent south to live with his grandmother.

Which Open All Hours actor voiced Toad in Cosgrove Hall's 1983 stop-motion film The Wind in the Willows?

David Jason voiced both Toad and the villains' leader in the film, which won a BAFTA and an International Emmy. It led to a television series that ran to 52 episodes.

Which animal nickname did the author of The Wind in the Willows give his only son, Alastair?

Mouse was about four when the bedtime stories began, and he was sent further instalments by letter. Those letters were later published as First Whisper of The Wind in the Willows.

Which playwright's stage version of The Wind in the Willows opened at London's National Theatre in December 1990?

Alan Bennett had read the book aloud on BBC Radio 4 in ten parts the year before. He went on to voice Mole in a 1995 animated film, opposite Michael Palin as Rat.

What does a jealous Mole snatch from Rat, tipping them both into the river, in The Wind in the Willows?

The oars, which the book calls sculls, were more than a beginner could manage, and Mole missed the water altogether. Rat hauled him ashore, laughing, and then dived to rescue their sunken lunch.

Which river flowed near the childhood home of the author of The Wind in the Willows at Cookham Dean?

The Thames was where a curate uncle took the children out on the water from their grandmother's house. Decades later the author moved back to the same village with a family of his own.

Which Greek god, never named in the text, guards a lost otter cub in The Wind in the Willows?

Pan appears at dawn on an island in the river, horned and holding his pipes, with the cub asleep between his hooves. The episode is often left out of adaptations and abridged editions.

The final chapter of The Wind in the Willows, about retaking Toad Hall, is titled after the return of which hero?

Ulysses is the Latin name of Odysseus, who comes home from his long voyage to find his house overrun by his wife's suitors. Toad's homecoming borrows the same shape.

Which earlier story by the author of The Wind in the Willows did Disney turn into a 1941 cartoon?

The Reluctant Dragon first appeared in the 1898 collection Dream Days, ten years before the riverbank tales. Its dragon turns out to be a shy lover of poetry instead of a ferocious beast.

Which jeer does Mole shout at the rabbits who demand a toll from him in The Wind in the Willows?

Onion-sauce is all he calls as he knocks the toll-keeper flat and trots on along the hedge. The rabbits are left blaming one another for not thinking of a reply in time.

In The Wind in the Willows, which last gift does the demigod on the island bestow on Rat and Mole at sunrise?

Forgetfulness is granted so that the awe of the meeting will not overshadow the rest of their lives. Moments later the two friends are puzzled and can no longer say what they have seen.

Which Oxford institution was left the royalties from The Wind in the Willows in its author's will?

The Bodleian Library also holds the author's archive. He had been a schoolboy in Oxford, at St Edward's, and he is buried there beside his son.

Which novelist wrote The Willows in Winter, the first of his sequels to The Wind in the Willows?

William Horwood followed it with Toad Triumphant, The Willows and Beyond and The Willows at Christmas. His sequels include a climax in which Toad steals an early monoplane.

The seafaring rat who tempts Ratty to wander in The Wind in the Willows hails from which great port?

Constantinople is where his Norwegian ancestor stayed behind after sailing there with King Sigurd, or so he says. His tales of southern harbours leave Ratty ready to pack a bag and follow him.