The Wind in the Willows began as a series of bedtime stories author Kenneth Grahame invented for his only son and has since become a classic tale of loyal friendship and madcap adventure that has delighted generations since its first appearance in 1908.  It features four main animal characters - Toad, Rat, Mole and Badger - who possess distinctly anthropomorphic character attributes and spend time “messing about in boats” on the River Thames and getting in and out of various scrapes.  In the main, the story centers on the impulsive obsessions of the rich, jovial, amiable but conceited and aimless Toad and the efforts of his loyal friends to rescue him from the consequences of his misadventures. Of course, each has his own surprises and challenges along the way.  The Wind in the Willows was initially rejected by numerous publishers until President Theodore Roosevelt campaigned for its publication. He later wrote Grahame that he had “read it and reread it, and have come to accept the characters as old friends.”The story has undergone numerous adaptations for the stage, film, radio and television, and appears at number 16 on the BBC’s 2003 Big Read, a list of Britain’s best-loved novels of all time.