Grahame focuses primarily on the mammals, and one amphibian, that inhabit the area around a river. But what other elements make up a riverbank ecosystem? Compose a 500-word essay comparing Grahame’s portrayal of a riverbank with the actual ecology of such an environment.

Read "Animal Farm" by George Orwell. How does Orwell's use of anthropomorphized animals differ from Grahame’s approach? In what ways are they similar? What literary devices does each author employ through the use of animals?

Read or watch a performance of A. A. Milne’s Toad of Toad Hall. Milne did not include events from all the chapters of The Wind in the Willows. Identify a chapter that Milne omitted and write a stage adaptation of that chapter. Then, direct a performance of your adaptation.

Which literary work does Grahame reference when he titles the final chapter of The Wind in the Willows "The Return of Ulysses"? What similarities can be drawn between Toad and the protagonist of this literary work?