Just So Stories

First published in 1908, my copy came to me on my 5th birthday [illustrated by Ernest Shephard], and I was at once completely and utterly besotted with life on the riverbank, Toad Hall and in the Wild Wood. This was a book on regular rotation in my reading roundabout. I adored every word of it.

I love that Grahame was in his 40s with his only child, just a little tacker, when he first started to tell stories about a toad, and after his early retirement at almost 50, developed these bedtimes stories into the manuscript that would become one of the best-loved children’s classics of all time. And isn’t it ironic that this much-loved book received negative reviews when first published – how wrong some people can be!!

Interestingly, it was our novel study the first year I was in high school, and I was amazed that some girls had never read it. My copy was already well-worn by that stage! [needless to say, even more worn by now! and the dustjacket long since disintegrated].

And one of my very favourite chapters, (as for many others), is the Christmas chapter, which you can listen to in this excellent narration from Storynory. How can anyone fail to be absolutely enchanted by the visit to Mole’s house, almost forgotten in the aftermath of his discovery of the riverbank’s delights? The whole description of this little home (and that deliciously Victorian forecourt!), and the visit of the carolling fieldmice, and the subsequent supper organised by Rat is just one delight after another. 

As with other classics in which certain excerpts have been transformed, this is one has been published as a PB but honestly, why stop at just one chapter? Even if you have younger ones, not ready to read for themselves, read it aloud to them. The lyrical, soothing language and the evocative descriptions, along with the commentary on human nature, and the humour is a pleasure not to be missed.

A re-read is on my Xmas holidays list as it’s been a couple of years between visits, and I can’t wait to immerse myself in this quintessentially English story again. 

BTW, I’ve often done a mapping unit with Year 3s, and always kicked off with fictional maps. This one from the wonderful Shephard endpapers has always been welcome in that inquiry.