肯尼思·格雷厄姆(KennethGrahame)英國(guó)童話作家。出生于愛(ài)丁堡一個(gè)傳統(tǒng)的蘇格蘭家庭，父親是律師，卻有嚴(yán)重的酗酒惡習(xí)。母親因猩紅熱病逝后，外公外婆將其接到鄉(xiāng)間撫養(yǎng)長(zhǎng)大。他小時(shí)候流連的田野風(fēng)光，后來(lái)成為《柳林風(fēng)聲》中鼴鼠、河鼠、獾與癩蛤蟆先生結(jié)伴暢游的世界。雖然格雷厄姆的童年充滿煩惱，但他創(chuàng)作的《柳林風(fēng)聲》的基調(diào)卻是甜美的。或許格雷厄姆發(fā)現(xiàn)，唯有在這些林間動(dòng)物的身上，生命里蟄伏的希望與愛(ài)才能萌芽。柳林間的風(fēng)聲，其實(shí)在每顆心上吹拂?！读诛L(fēng)聲》曾經(jīng)引起當(dāng)時(shí)美國(guó)總統(tǒng)羅斯福的注意，他曾寫信告訴作者，他把《柳林風(fēng)聲》一口氣讀了3遍。
1895年格雷厄姆了出版童書《黃金時(shí)代》，此書的巨大成功奠定了他在兒童文學(xué)史上的地位。而1908年出版的《柳林風(fēng)聲》則為格雷厄姆獲得了更高的贊譽(yù)，被譽(yù)為英國(guó)兒童文學(xué)黃金時(shí)代的壓軸之作。《柳林風(fēng)聲》以英文原版出版，附贈(zèng)配套英文朗讀MP3免費(fèi)下載（下載地址見(jiàn)圖書封底博客），讓讀者在欣賞精彩故事的同時(shí)，亦能提升英語(yǔ)水平。
A sentimental British favorite, The Wind inthe Willows is a far more interesting book than its popular and often juvenileaudience might suggest. It became established as the evergreen children's classicit is known as today.
In 1908, Grahame retired from his positionas secretary of the Bank of England. He moved back to Cookham, Berkshire, wherehe had been brought up and spent his time by the River Thames doing much as theanimal characters in his book do. He wrote down the bedtime stories he had beentelling his son Alistair.
In 1909, Theodore Roosevelt, then Presidentof the United States, wrote to Grahame to tell him that he had “read it andreread it, and have come to accept the characters as old friends”. The novelwas in its thirty-first printing when playwright A. A. Milne adapted a part of itfor the stage as Toad of Toad Hall in 1929. In 2003, The Wind in the Willowswas listed at No. 16 on the BBC's survey The Big Read.
《柳林風(fēng)聲》以英文原版出版，以蟾蜍、鼴鼠、老獾和河鼠的歷險(xiǎn)故事為題材，講述了他們豐富多彩的生活，生動(dòng)地刻畫了柳林中的友誼與溫情。它不同于一般的童話，而是將有關(guān)人情世故的詼諧表述和富于童趣的描述糅合在一起，細(xì)細(xì)揣摩別有一番韻味?！读诛L(fēng)聲》被譽(yù)為英國(guó)兒童文學(xué)黃金時(shí)代的壓軸之作。
