You might think it a bit extreme to painstakingly annotate a children's book, but, oh, what a children's book. And oh, what an annotation.

Seth Lerer is a distinguished professor of literature at the University of California in San Diego, and this, his eighth book, is an exquisite examination of the nuances, allusions, Britishisms and context of Kenneth Grahame's wonderful 1908 novel, "The Wind in the Willows" -- a book that all of us grew up reading, or should have. I remember sitting in my parents' living room as a young child, the radio tuned to WHSA-FM, Brule, Wis., waiting for "Chapter a Day" to come on, my copy of Kenneth Grahame in my lap so that I could read along.

I loved the story, even though there were references I did not get and language I did not understand. (Wisconsin Public Radio changed Ratty's exclamation of "You silly ass!" to "You silly fool!," giving me a lesson on the various meanings of the word "ass.")

Lerer goes far beyond simply defining words. He points out Grahame's nods to Keats and Wordsworth and Milton, and explains briefly, among other things, the British canal system, 19th-century English dream theory, Morris dancing, how the motor car changed Edwardian England and the paternalism of Mr. Badger. He frequently references the Oxford English Dictionary. It's all fascinating to dip into.

This big, lovely book is illustrated by some of the most famous Grahame illustrators -- Nancy Barnhart, Arthur Rackham, Wyndham Payne and, of course, Ernest H. Shepherd, who brought to life the brash, cigar-smoking, swaggering Mr. Toad. This book is a labor of great scholarship, but it is also, clearly, a labor of love.

LAURIE HERTZEL