Tillerman Toad by Peter Durney

Description

The developers threaten the Wild Wood, and Badger is called back from his retirement cruise on the canal to deal with the situation. This time he is fighting alongside his erstwhile foes, the ferrets and the stoats, to defeat the implacable bureaucrats and businessmen.

Ratty and Mole are with him, but there is the problem of Toad, Badger is bound by a court order to mentor his scatterbrained friend, but there is no place for such an impulsive character in Badger’s carefully thought-out battle strategy.

To remove him from the scene, Toad is sent off down the canal in Badger’s narrowboat but, even with Toad out of the way, Badger’s plans come to naught. All seems lost. However, Toad returns from his canal adventures bringing with him the critical solutions that save the day. The Wild Wood is preserved.

With wit and poignancy, Peter Durney has captured the essence of Kenneth Grahame’s immortal characters. At the same time he describes in detail life on the English Canal System.

Review from Amazon reader Karen Arada: 5 stars
Badger has left his home in the Wild Wood and is now cruising the canals in his own boat with Toad as first mate. Ratty and Mole join them for a journey. However they are called back in order to fight for the survival of Wild Wood which is under threat from a corrupt council and Housing Developer.
Peter Durney has breathed new life into the gentle pastoral theme of Kenneth Grahame’s Wind in the Willows. Tillerman Toad has wonderful descriptions of the English canal side Flora and Fauna (Fauna being the chosen descriptor of the animals of the Wild Wood). He has elaborated on the mystical nature of the English countryside with his evocation of the nature god Pan and blends it nicely with the modern day urban plot.
The Fauna’s protest march is a particular highlight of the book; it has wonderful descriptions of synchronised flying birds, a plethoria of woodland animals and precision marching garden gnomes.