Toad's Last Little Song by Michael Hague 1980 At last the hour for the banquet began to draw near, and Toad, who on leaving the others had retired to his bedroom, was still sitting there, melancholy and thoughtful. His brow resting on his paw, he pondered long and deeply. Gradually his countenance cleared, and he began to smile long, slow smiles. Then he took to giggling in a shy, self-conscious manner. At last he got up, locked the door, drew the curtains across the windows, collected all the chairs in the room and arranged them in a semicircle, and took up his position in front of them, swelling visibly. Then he bowed, coughed twice, and, letting himself go, with uplifted voice he sang, to the enraptured audience that his imagination so clearly saw.
TOAD'S LAST LITTLE SONG!
The Toad - came - home!
There was panic in the parlours and bowling in the halls,
There was crying in the cow-sheds and shrieking in the stalls,
When the Toad - came - home!
When the Toad - came - home!
There was smashing in of window and crashing in of door,
There was chivvying of weasels that fainted on the floor,
When the Toad - came - home!
Bang! go the drums!
The trumpeters are tooting and the soldiers are saluting,
And the cannon they are shooting and the motor-cars are hooting,
As the - Hero - comes!
Shout - Hoo-ray!
And let each one of the crowd try and shout it very loud,
In honour of an animal of whom you're justly proud,
For it's Toad's - great - day!
He sang this very loud, with great unction and expression; and when he had done, he sang it all over again.
Then he heaved a deep sigh; a long, long, long sigh.Kenneth Grahame The Wind in the Willows 1908
Which was your favourite character and why?
My favourite character was Toad because he was so foolish. He got mad when anything that he didn’t want happened and he thought he was the best and he was a bad friend, pretty much. He lied about being sorry and said “I will do better,” when really he was worse than when he began.
More confessions from me today.....
ReplyDeleteI've never actually read 'The Wind and the Willows' - I think I started it once upon a time ago.
Anyway - I just spent 2 mins looking for it - good on me for NOT packing it - and have decided that I will begin reading it today to the little kiddos.
Have been thinking about what book I should read aloud lately. :)
We loved Wind in the Willows!! I think if I had to pick a favorite it would probably be Mole. He was just a down-to-earth kinda guy. He was a little too emotionally sensitive for my tastes though.
ReplyDeleteRat was always the dashing adventurer and always seemed to have a word of encouragement which rather surprised me since he was a rat.
Oh, forget it. Wind in the Willows is one of our family favorites. How can I choose?!
Mrs Adept, I can think of no better read aloud! Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
ReplyDeleteMy six year old has always loved Toad because of the fast cars. What a character he is! We just started reading it again today.
ReplyDeleteAlso - my 8yo old had Five little pepers on her additional reading ist and totally did not like it. She is a very good reader but kept saying it wasn't interesting. I think the writing style may be a bit dry though I havn't read it myself. THanks for visiting and commenting on Warm love -its so nice to meet new people with similar hearts. Warmly,
Skye.
If you enjoy 'The Wind in the Willows' you might like to read (if you haven't already) William Horwood's sequels beginning with (I think)'The Willows in Winter'. Imo these are even better than Kenneth Grahame's originals.
ReplyDeleteWe love Toad too! My second son picked one of Toad's songs for his recitation! It is so funny because he is SO full of himself!
ReplyDeleteHad to share! ;)
If I can find the selection I'll come back to post it :)
It's scheduled for Term 2 for us - we'll let you know. It was a case of real self-denial to not read it with the boys last year and I've found Max with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar more than once. A..n..t..i..c..i..p..a..t..i..o..n.
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