John Burningham

Brief captions and full-page illustrations capture the essence of each season.

The wings slowly tilted, and as Commander Pott, at last realizing what CHITTY-CHITTY-BANG-BANG was up to, pressed down the accelerator pedal, the big green car tilted up her shining green and silver nose and took off! --

On discovering late Christmas Eve that he has forgotten to deliver one present, Santa Claus wearily makes his way in a variety of conveyances to the top of the Roly Poly Mountain to deliver it.

"Mr. Gumpy lives by a river. One sunny day he decides to take a ride in his small boat. It is such a perfect idea, for such a perfect summer day, that he soon has company: first the children, then the rabbit, the cat, the dog, the pig, the sheep, the chickens, and still others until-- Mr. Gumpy's outing comes to an inevitable but not unhappy, conclusion. "Come for a ride another day," says Mr. Gumpy at the book's end. And young readers will return...

Miles the dog is growing older, but adventure still awaits when he takes to the skies.

"Meek little Mole, willful Ratty, Badger the perennial bachelor, and petulant Toad. Since their first appearance over a hundred years ago in 1908, they've become emblematic archetypes of eccentricity, folly, and friendship. And their misadventures--in gypsy caravans, stolen sports cars, and their beloved Wild Wood--continue to capture readers' imaginations and warm their hearts long after they grow up. Begun as a series of letters from Kenneth Grahame...