The Adventures of Portly the Otter by M. G. Leonard

Untold Tales from The Wind in the Willows

“A glorious future classic.”
— Alexander Armstrong

Illustration by Polly Dunbar

Coming March 2026

“There is a time in a young otter’s life when they must be introduced to their river. For Portly, today was that day …”

Follow the thrilling animal adventures of young otter Portly – including all your favourite characters such as Mole, Ratty and Toad, from the countryside classic, The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. 🦦

Told across four seasons in one year, Portly learns to swim, battles a large trout, gets tied to fireworks by Toad, rescues a human girl, outwits the weasels and stoats of the Wild Wood, meets a young otter journeying to the sea, and sleeps between the cloven feet of the god Pan. 🦦

Full of all the charm, nostalgia and sounds of splashing in the river that fans of The Wind in the Willows have fallen in love with over the years, M. G. Leonard’s faithful spin-off will enchant an entirely new generation. 🦦

Beautifully illustrated in full-colour by award-winning illustrator of The Hug, Polly Dunbar, this gorgeous hardback gift book celebrates the 95th anniversary of E. H. Shepard’s iconic artwork for The Wind in the Willows. 🦦

A perfect Easter gift for both new readers and existing fans, young and old! Pre-order from Waterstones, Bookshop.org, Amazon, or your local independent bookshop.

Exclusive Independent Bookshop Limited Edition with Insect Sprayed Edges.

Here are some of the lovely things people are saying about this book:

“This magical retelling bubbles with wonder, joy and love.” — Piers Torday, author of The Last Wild

“A glorious future classic” — Alexander Armstrong, author of Evenfall

"Marvellous tales, full of sparkle and charm” — Sophie Anderson, author of The Girl Who Speaks Bear

"One of the loveliest books I've read in a long time” — Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Girl of Ink and Stars

"A magical tale of one mischievous otter bursting with charm, wit and wonder" — Hannah Gold, author of The Last Bear

"A story that ripples with the gentleness of childhood wonder and friendship.” — Leah Lane, @mymulberryhouse

🦦 Pre-order now!

M. G. Leonard & Polly Dunbar, author & illustrator of The Adventures of Portly the Otter, with editor @lucycourtenayauthor & designer @tiffchildrensbooks_design from Farshore books, messing about by the river 🦦
Here’s a snippet of @mglnrd on the Today programme talking about The Wind in the Willows and her new book, The Adventures of Portly the Otter.
The Adventures of Portly the Otter - Untold Tales from The Wind in the Willows is a new book by @mglnrd and @pollydunbar publishing in March 2026. Available for preorder now.
It is with a huge amount of delight that I can tell you that I have written a book about Portly the Otter, son of Otter from The Wind in the Willows. It is modelled on Kenneth Grahame’s original, as a series of riverbank stories, and features characters we all know and love, as well as introducing you to some new ones. The book is called The Adventures of Portly the Otter - Untold Tales from The Wind in the Willows and will answer a mystery I wondered about a lot as a child, which is - what really happened to Portly for him to be missing for so long, and end up - discovered by Ratty and Moley,- curled up between the cloven hooves of the god Pan? The book is illustrated by the fabulous Polly Dunbar and will be printed as a four colour hardback gift book in March 2026 by Farshore. I cannot tell you what a joy it has been to revisit the riverbank and spend time with the much beloved Ratty, Moley, Badger, and of course the mischievous Mr Toad, but the biggest delight of all has been spending a year researching and learning about otters.
Happy World Otter Day 🦦 💚
… saw the backward sweep of the curved horns, gleaming in the growing daylight; saw the stern, hooked nose between the kindly eyes that were looking down on them humorously, while the bearded mouth broke into a half-smile at the corners; saw the rippling muscles on the arm that lay across the broad chest, the long supple hand still holding the pan-pipes only just fallen away from the parted lips; saw the splendid curves of the shaggy limbs disposed in majestic ease on the sward; saw, last of all, nestling between his very hooves, sleeping soundly in entire peace and contentment, the little, round, podgy, childish form of the baby otter.