The Wind in the Willows (BBC Children's Classics)

De: Kenneth Grahame

Narrado por: Dramatisation

Many of the original cast from Alan Bennett's acclaimed National Theatre production appear in this special dramatisation for BBC Radio 4 including Richard Briers as Rat, Adrian Scarborough as Mole, and Terence Rigby as Albert with Alan Bennett as the narrator. A wonderful, highly-acclaimed dramatic performance of a classic novel.©1989 Kenneth Grahame

My first kid friendly audio book

I needed a change of pace from what I regularly download, and so I chose this beloved children's classic. Though I like the musical numbers, I'm slightly disappointed that the Piper at Dawn chapter got omitted. Anyway, I chose wisely, I think.

Eventful

Delightful, adventurous and entertaining! Everyone should partake in this classic tale about friendship, courage and life.

Classic Fun!

I still think it would help to read or listen to the full length unabridged version first to help your mind fill in the blanks, but overall it was a much better listen than a single reader trying to do all the characters.

Charming - Not just for kids

This is an excellent production. Some of Britain's best contempory actors give voice to some wonderful animal characters. Music and sound effects add to this production's ability to transfer you to the Wild Wood, the Open Road or to Toad Hall. Slow and gentle, its great for even young children, while being well-crafted enough to smooth the brow of a harrassed adult.

Wide spread of ages entertained

I have 3, 6 and 8 year old kiddos and we all thoroughly enjoyed this condensed and delightfully performed version of Wind In the Willows! Excellent talent and quality!

READ THIS REVIEW BEFORE ORDERING!

What did you love best about The Wind in the Willows (Dramatised)?

The actors were superb. Of course, anything with Richard Briars will be top-notch.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

This was NOT true to the book, nor was it much like the BBC dramatization. It is interesting to see how someone can do a "take-off" on such a classic. This dramatization is more of a very funny performance featuring the bachelor/gay lifestyle. (Think the British comedies "Savage" or "Two Old Guys.")

What about Dramatisation’s performance did you like?

The book is a wonderful classic, but this performance is an interpretation, and a very amusing one, but is not true to the book, exactly. If you are very familiar with the material, you will enjoy it very much, since everyone has thought along these lines with this book. In this performance, the actors allowed themselves to continue along these less-than-completely innocent interpretations.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

This is a take-off on the classic, not a true rendition of "The Wind in the Willows." Rather than a magical children's story, this performance presents a sort of wonderful satire on gay/bachelor lifestyle (think the British comedies "Savage" or "Two Old Guys.") It is quite charming, and very amusing, but is not presented as the original children's story.

Any additional comments?

Get this for yourself, not your kids. They (hopefully) won't get it, but you will enjoy it. I wish the original BBC dramatization of this book would become available. It was FANTASTIC. (I ordered this because my tape of the original finally broke.) This is an interesting interpretation, but either find the old version, or purchase the unabridged performance available from Audible (it is fantastic, too) if you want to hear a rendition in the spirit of the original.

Good Children's Story

I bought this for my child to listen to. It was a hit! We have listened to it twice now.

Not quite the actual story, but not bad either...

Having both read and listened to the classic tale, I thought this might be a little treat. At any rate, the sample sounded nice. That being said though, there are a number of changes made in this dramatization. For one thing, the horse that pulled Toad's cart near the beginning of the story can talk now, and frequently shows up throughout the story; effectively being EVERY horse mentioned in the original classic. Also, the weasels come into the story far earlier than they do in the book. In addition, the scene where Ratty meets a sea rat and considers traveling are removed entirely. One more thing I'd like to point out is that one of the other reviews for this story claimed that the characters were portrayed in a mild homosexual manner. When I read that I thought they was simply exaggerating. However, after listening to it, I can say with certainty that he had his reasons to make that claim. With all that said, this dramatization isn't terrible. It's no different than when a film does a reinterpretation of a story, and all the cast did give a splendid performance with what they were given. If you like the original story and don't mind a few changes here and there, give this a listen.

okayish

it is a good book but not the best.
the fight and the songs are the best parts.

Screwy

What a weird story. I can't imagine it's a children's book. The singing and music were the best parts.