Kenneth Grahame was born in Scotland but spent much of his childhood in Cookham, Berkshire after his mother died. He was raised by his grandmother in an idyllic home near the River Thames, which is believed to have inspired the setting for his most famous work, The Wind in the Willows. Grahame excelled as a student at St. Edward's School in Oxford. After graduating, he had a long career working for the Bank of England in London. He wrote The Wind in the Willows in 1908 during a holiday, drawing on memories of his childhood along the Thames. The book became a classic of children's literature.