Billy and the Minpins (illustrated by Quentin Blake): Roald Dahl. Illustrated by Quentin Blake

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They soon warn Little Billy of the fearsome, galloping Gruncher, who has grunched thousands of Minpins. And it will gobble up Little Billy too - uness he can find a way to defeat the hungry beast, once and for all... Text Rationale:

Little Billy goes out through the garden gate in a ‘jiffy’. How long is this? Can you think of other ways of describe different periods of time? Which ones are the shortest / longest? When Little Billy first enters The Forest of Sin he can hear absolute silence. Can you find a place where there is absolute silence? What things make sounds? How are they made? How are sounds measured? What is the loudest / quietest sound that you can make? The Gruncher makes lots of strange sounds, e.g. Whooshing, swooshing, whiffing. Can you think of any other examples of onomatopoeia? The story was not exactly what I expected, that's why I didn't shelve it as one of my favorites, but it was close! I really liked how Dahl suggested other mysteries throughout the story, letting us imagine ourselves the other worlds existing. The illustrations of the Minpins in the trees are really cute, with a lot of details, and the descriptions of the forest are beautifully written. I felt like I was in there with Billy, escaping the house and entering this magical world.If you were going to measure the height of a Minpin, what equipment would you need? How tall is a Minpin? What percentage of your height is the height of a Minpin? And now Little Billy was kneeling on the chair, gazing with longing through the window at the famous Forest of Sin. He escapes what he is sure must be the Spittler by climbing up a tree as high and as fast as he can. When he comes to rest, he notices windows opening all over the branches, and discovers a whole city of little people, the Minpins, living inside the tree. The leader of the Minpins, Don Mini, tells Little Billy that the monster waiting under the tree is not the Spittler (which the Minpins have never heard of), but the Red-Hot Smoke-Belching Gruncher, who grunches up everything in the forest. It seems that there is no way for Little Billy to safely get down from the tree and return home.

Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer and screenwriter of Norwegian descent, who rose to prominence in the 1940's with works for both children and adults, and became one of the world's bestselling authors. Draw a map of The Forest of Sin, including the different places, people and creatures mentioned in the story.

Stop reading the book at the point when Little Billy sees ‘a sight that froze is blood and made icicles in his veins’. Discuss what this might be. Could you describe / draw what Little Billy has seen? Whangdoodles are worse,” his mother said, “and Hornswogglers and Snozzwanglers and Vermicious Knids. Little Billy stares into ‘the everlasting gloom and doom of the forest’. Can you create a picture that uses perspective to show this?