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| Kenneth Grahame dailymail.co.uk |
Cute and fun book! I loved Badger, Rat and Mole - and even Toad has his redeeming qualities, I thought. I wondered about the rat, though. He's a water rat which I don't believe I'd ever heard of until I read the Oscar Wilde short story The Devoted Friend. Apparently "water rat" is the collective name for several species of rodent. Since the story is set in England, this water rat is undoubtedly a European Water Vole -- a protected species in the UK.
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| greengirlsglobal |
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| helmdon |
Apparently the book has been made into a movie several times and is even a ride at Disneyland! One adaptation is titled Mr Toad's Wild Ride. Now, see, I could go off on a tangent about how movies take just one little part of a book and expand and exaggerate it to appeal to their targeted demographic, but I shan't do that. (Although if I were, I could also speak about the movie adaptation of A Town Like Alice which ignored the second half of the book.)
That water rat actually looks quiet cute! My mom read this to my brother and I when we were little, but I can't say I've ever thought about what 'water rat' actually meant. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThe second one does look a bit sinister. I haven't seen the movie, but I remember loving Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disneyland when I was a kid.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoyed it. I think I'll choose it as my next read aloud for my kids.
Kristi, you may also want to check out that short story by Oscar Wilde - it works for kids and adults, too!
ReplyDeleteI was a little disappointed in this book, mainly because I had such high expectations (hopefully we haven't done the same to you with I Capture the Castle...). I did think Rat and Mole were great friends to Toad. That second picture is WAY sinister...
ReplyDeleteThanks for signing up for the Books to Movies Challenge!!!