Illustrators

When The Wind in the Willows was originally published, it had a frontispiece illustration by Graham Robertson but no other illustrations. Some years later various illustrated editions appeared. The book was still under copyright until October 1983, and any illustrated or abridged version needed to be officially commissioned or approved by the copyright holders.

It is interesting to note how the various illustrators addressed the challenges of depicting anthropomorphised animals, the relative sizes of the animals and the humans and, not least, how to draw Pan. Their illustrations also represent a variety of interpretations of the book.

The illustrated editions are listed in five groupings below. The first group covers the unabridged editions. The second group covers slightly abridged versions. The third group covers extensively abridged editions and picture book editions. The fourth group covers adapted-text editions - for example, comic book and poetic adaptations. The fifth group covers anonymous-illustrator editions.

Each link below opens a webpage summarising the corresponding illustrator's edition of the book. A few low-resolution images of the illustrations are also included, to demonstrate the style and interpretation of each illustrator. 

1. Unabridged Illustrated Editions

- 1913 Paul Bransom

- 1922 Nancy Barnhart

- 1927 Wyndham Payne

- 1931 Ernest Shepard

- 1940 Arthur Rackham

- 1946/1947 Paul Henning (only Chapters 5 & 2)

- 1965 Ralph Pinto

- 1966 Roberta Carter Clark

- 1966 Dick Cuffari

- 1966 Tasha Tudor

- 1968 David Stone

- 1969 Robert Lee

- 1969 Alex Tsao

- 1980 Michael Hague

- 1982 Leslie Morrill

- 1983 Tessa Barwick

- 1983 John Burningham

- 1983 Cosgrove Hall

- 1983 Harry Hargreaves

- 1983 Pixie O'Harris

- 1983 Steve Smallman

- 1984 Jonathan Langley

- 1985 Owen Wood

- 1986 Douglas Hall

- 1987 Peter Barrett

- 1988 Arthur Suydam

- 1988 Justin Todd

- 1989 Nick Harris

- 1991 Graham Percy

- 1992 Martin Baynton

- 1993 Paul Cox

- 1993 Lindsay Duff

- 1994 Patrick Benson

- 1994 Robin Lawrie

- 1995 James Lynch

- 2000 Joanne Moss

- 2000 Helen Ward

- 2001 Michael Foreman

- 2002 Mary Jane Begin

- 2004 Anna Leplar

- 2005 Sibylle Delacroix

- 2005 Scott McKowen

- 2005 Charles van Sandwyk

- 2007 Robert Ingpen

2. Slightly Abridged Illustrated Editions

- 1983 John Worsley

- 1983 Philip Mendoza

- 1985 Margaret Gordon

- 1986 Eric Kincaid

- 1994 Lorna Tomei

- 1996 Inga Moore

- 2004 Hal Taylor

3. Extensively Abridged Illustrated Editions & Picture Book Editions

- 1977 Adrienne Adams (only Chapter 1)

- 1979/1980/1982 Beverley Gooding (only Chapters 2, 9 & 5)

- 1982 Mary Alice Baer

- 1983 Martin Aitchison

- 1983 Val Biro

- 1985 Eileen Fitzpatrick Berry

- 1985 Rene Cloke

- 1985 Lulu Delacre (only Chapter 2)

- 1985 Ron Embleton

- 1985 Gary Woodley

- 1987 Kim Lane

- 1988 Kate Simpson

- 1993 Don Daily

- 1993 Holly Hannon

- 1993 Laura Lydecker

- 1994 Cliff Wright

- 1995 Thea Kliros

- 1995 Jan McCafferty

- 1995 Graham Philpot

- 1997 Gill Guile

- 1997 Ken McKie

- 1997 John Patience

- 1998 Maggie Downer

- 2000 Eric Copeland

- 2000 Patricia Ludlow

- 2003 Jeff Fisher

- 2003 Ann Iosa

- 2003 Nick Price

- 2004 Tim Davis

- 2006 Jamel Akib

- 2007 Mauro Evangelista

4. Adapted-Text Editions

- 1949 Milt Kahl - Walt Disney Studios (adapted text for Ichabod and Mr Toad)

- 1976 Dominique Strandquest (predominantly a colouring book)

- 1981 William Rushton (counter text)

- 1983 Babette Cole (pop-up book)

- 1996 Michael Plessix (comic)

- 1997 Roger Michell (poetry)

- 2000 Kathi Ember (interactive reading book)

- 2005 Michael Avery (poetry)

5. Anonymous-Illustrator Editions

- 1984 Anonymous No1 (World International Publishing)

- 1988 Anonymous No2 (Ottenheimer Publishers Inc)

- 1989 Anonymous No 3 (Madison Marketing Ltd)

- 1996 Anonymous No4 (Arkadia Publishing)

© The Kenneth Grahame Society