SOURCE: "Kenneth Grahame," in Fairy Tales and After: From Snow White to E. B. White, Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1978, pp. 165-93.

In the following essay, Sale surveys The Wind in the Willows and considers its place within the "cult of childhood."

When I took a studio at No. 4 St. George's Square, Primrose Hill, the outgoing tenant said "Let me introduce you to Dr. Furnivall. He will ask you if you can scull. If you say 'No,' he will take you up the river to teach you. If you say 'Yes,' he will take you up the river to keep you in practice. He will take you anyhow." …

I could not help smiling as, after a little enquiry about my work, Dr. Furnivall asked, "Can you scull?" When I answered "Yes," his whole face beamed. "How jolly!" he exclaimed. "I hope you will often come up...