Wind in the Willows

The novel's characters are anthropomorphized animals. With the arrival of spring and fine weather outside, the good-natured Mole loses patience with spring cleaning, exclaiming, "Hang spring cleaning!" He leaves his underground home and comes up at the bank of the river, which he has never seen before. Here he meets Water Rat, a water vole, who takes Mole for a ride in his row boat. They get along well and spend many more days boating. "Ratty" teaches Mole the ways of the river, and the two friends live together in Ratty's riverside home.
One summer day, Rat and Mole disembark near the grand Toad Hall and pay a visit to Toad. Toad is wealthy, jovial, friendly and kindhearted, but sometimes arrogant and rash; he regularly becomes obsessed with fads, only to abandon them abruptly. His current craze is his horse-drawn caravan. When a passing automobile scares his horse and causes the caravan to overturn into a ditch, Toad's craze for caravan travel is immediately replaced by an obsession with motorcars.
Mole goes to the Wild Wood on a snowy winter's day, hoping to meet the elusive but wise and virtuous Badger. Mole becomes lost in the woods, succumbs to fright and hides among the sheltering roots of a tree. Rat finds him as snow begins to fall in earnest. As they attempt to find their way home, Mole barks his shin on the bootscraper on Badger's doorstep. Badger welcomes Rat and Mole into his large, cosy underground home, providing them with hot food, dry clothes and reassuring conversation. Badger learns from his visitors that Toad has crashed seven cars, has been in hospital three times, and has been issued numerous fines resulting in great expense.
With the arrival of spring, the three of them place Toad under house arrest with themselves as guards. However, Toad pretends to be sick, tricking Ratty into leaving for a doctor, and escapes. Badger and Mole continue residing at Toad Hall in the hope that Toad may return. Toad orders lunch at The Red Lion Inn and then sees a motorcar pull into the courtyard. He takes the car, drives it recklessly, and is caught by the police. He is sent to prison for 20 years, most of which is for "gross impertinence" to his captors.
In prison, Toad gains the sympathy of the gaoler's daughter. With her help, he escapes, disguised as a washerwoman. After a long series of misadventures he returns to the hole of the Water Rat. Rat hauls Toad inside and informs him that Toad Hall has been taken over by weasels, stoats and ferrets from the Wild Wood, who have driven out Mole and Badger. Armed to the teeth, Badger, Rat, Mole and Toad enter through the tunnel and pounce upon the unsuspecting Wild-Wooders, who are holding a celebratory party. Having driven away the intruders, Toad holds a banquet to mark his return, during which he behaves both quietly and humbly. He makes up for his earlier excesses by seeking out and compensating those he has wronged, and the four friends live happily ever after.
In addition to the main narrative, the book contains several independent short stories featuring Rat and Mole, such as an encounter with the wild god Pan while they are searching for Otter's son Portly, and Ratty's meeting with a Sea Rat. These appear for the most part between the chapters chronicling Toad's adventures, and they are often omitted from adaptations of the story as well as from some abridged versions.