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

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I really enjoyed the Minpins, there was really a magical charm to the story. Both the words and pictures really gives you a sense of being in the forest.

Entering The Forest of Sin is ‘like being among the dead men in an enormous empty green cathedral’. Can you think of similes to describe different places?? (see Resources below) One of the things he was NEVER NEVER allowed to do, the most exciting of them all, wasto go out through the garden gate all by himself and explore the world beyond. Use different types of media to show some of the other creatures that might live in The Forest of Sin. Use drama activities (e.g. Conscience corridor) to discuss whether Little Billy should go into The Forest of Sin and how he feels about it.

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And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it. Eldest son’s first ‘big boy’ book with chapters. He was totally engrossed in the story and the original plan of ‘a few chapters at bedtime’ went out the window. Captured his imagination and felt like the start of a different sort of bedtime reading for us to share. Looking forward to working through the Roald Dahl collection with him. Little Billy's mum says he must never go out through the garden gate and explore the dark forest beyond.

Every now and again his mother would callout to him, saying, “Little Billy, what are you up to in there?” 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.The Gruncher uses his sense of smell to find humans. What other animals use smell? How are their noses adapted for this? I found a Dahl I hadn’t yet read! The Minpins is a classic childhood tale - Mom says not to go out into the Forest of Sin (haha what a great name), so obviously Little Billy goes. The Minpins wear clothes that are ‘the sort of thing people wore two or three hundred years ago’. Find out about clothing and fashion from different periods in history.

The Gruncher makes lots of strange sounds, e.g. Whooshing, swooshing, whiffing. Can you think of any other examples of onomatopoeia? These were the words the Devil whisperedsoftly into Little Billy’s ear on that sunny summer afternoon. There he meets the Minpins - a miniature race that lives in the trees - that are terrorized by a forest creature made of fire. Extremely enjoyable to read! The Minpins study guide contains a biography of Roald Dahl, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. And now Little Billy was kneeling on the chair, gazing with longing through the window at the famous Forest of Sin.Little Billy stares into ‘the everlasting gloom and doom of the forest’. Can you create a picture that uses perspective to show this? 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. I read it for the first time in first grade. I loved it. I'm fairly certain I read it multiple times between first and third grade. The story is great and the pictures are stunning. Alas, I changed schools in third grade, and then changed again in fifth, and the title of the book was lost. I remembered the story but not what it was called.