Last night we started another bed-time book. Always the romantic I try to find books that communicate the beauty of nature wrapped in an exciting and adventurous story. I hope to give the kids, at a worst, an appreciation for nature and, at best, a longing to be a part of it. Yes, unfortunately living in the concrete jungle in Southern California we have to resort to books instead of the real thing. I chose The Wind and The Willows. The large hardback edition that I purchased has fantastic illustrations by Michael Hague. The illustrations are great a jumpstart for the imagination. Since they are not on every page the illustrations aren’t too big of a distraction and keep the kids in suspense and attentive. The good news is that this text is public domain so you can always go here and download a copy to print. It won’t have the pictures, but that’s okay. So here is an great excerpt from the text. The Mole has just stumbled upon a river for the first time in his life.

Never in his life had he seen a river before–this sleek, sinuous, full-bodied animal, chasing and chuckling, gripping things with a gurgle and leaving them with a laugh, to fling itself on fresh playmates that shook themselves free, and were caught and held again. All was a-shake and a-shiver–glints and gleams and sparkles, rustle and swirl, chatter and bubble. The Mole was bewitched, entranced, fascinated. By the side of the river he trotted as one trots, when very small, by the side of a man who holds one spell-bound by exciting stories; and when tired at last, he sat on the bank, while the river still chattered on to him, a babbling procession of the best stories in the world, sent from the heart of the earth to be told at last to the insatiable sea.

- Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows (1908)