Books

The Best of Roald Dahl

Information   Description   Reviews   Fun Stuff   Teacher Resources   Cover Illustrations   Spanish Cover Illustration

Information

• First editions:
  • Vintage Books, 1978, USA.
    • Value (circa 1994) in Very Good condition
      • Without dustjacket: $4-$8
      • With dustjacket: $14-$21
  • Michael Joseph, 1983, Great Britain.
    • Value (circa 1994) in Very Good condition
      • Without dustjacket: $3-$7
      • With dustjacket: $11-$17
• Contains:
  • "Dip in the Pool"
  • "Edward the Conqueror"
  • "Galloping Foxley"
  • "Genesis and Catastrophe"
  • "Georgy Porgy"
  • "Lamb to the Slaughter"
  • "Madame Rosette"
  • "Man From the South"
  • "Mr. Feasey"
  • "Mr. Hoddy"
  • "Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat"
  • "Parson's Pleasure"
  • "Pig"
  • "Royal Jelly"
  • "Rummins"
  • "Skin"
  • "Taste"
  • "The Bookseller"
  • "The Boy Who Talked with Animals"
  • "The Champion of the World"
  • "The Great Switcheroo"
  • "The Hitchhiker"
  • "The Landlady"
  • "The Ratcatcher"
  • "The Sound Machine"
  • "The Visitor"
  • "The Way Up to Heaven"
  • "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar"
  • "William and Mary"

Description

This collection brings together Dahl's finest work, illustrating his genius for the horrific and grotesque which is unparalleled.

"Dahl has the mastery of plot and characters possessed by great writers of the past, along with a wildness and wryness of his own. One of his trademarks is writing beautifully about the ugly, even the horrible." – Los Angeles Times

"An ingenious imagination, a fascination with odd and ordinary detail, and a lust for its thorough exploitation are the...strengths of Dahl's storytelling." – New York Times Book Review

Reviews

• Review by Godly Gadfly
• Review from Green Man Review

Fun Stuff

• Sotheby's Dahl Auction

Teacher Resources

• "Dip in the Pool"
  • Additional Classroom Question
    • Suggested question to tack on the end of Jocelyn Allen's Classroom Activities
  • Classroom Activities
    • Includes a number of questions and exercises pertaining to the story
• "Galloping Foxley"
  • Classroom Activities
    • Includes a number of questions and exercises pertaining to the story
• "Lamb to the Slaughter"
  • Wide Reading Coursework
    • Various activities that involve comparing this story to Thomas Hardy's "The Withered Arm", Charles Dickens's "The Signalman", and Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Speckled Band"
  • Classroom Activities
    • Includes a reading jigsaw, ranking features of the perfect murder, and vocabulary matching task
• "Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat"
  • Classroom Activities
    • Includes a number of questions and exercises pertaining to the story
• "Parson's Pleasure"
  • Classroom Activities
    • Includes a number of questions and exercises pertaining to the story
• "Pig"
  • Classroom Activities
    • Includes a range of reading tasks, divided into story sections
• "Taste"
  • Classroom Ideas
    • Includes some ideas for teaching grammar
  • Classroom Activities
    • Includes a number of questions and exercises pertaining to the story
• "The Boy Who Talked with Animals"
  • Classroom Activities
    • Includes a crossword, questions, who said what, vocabulary, summary, and writing a letter
• "The Hitchhiker"
  • Character Comparison
    • Includes a chart for comparing two characters
  • Classroom Activities
    • Includes a number of questions and exercises pertaining to the story
• "The Landlady"
  • Classroom Activities
    • Includes a making your own story exercise (using extracts from Dahl's story) and questions
  • Online Crossword Puzzle
    • Online puzzle focussing on word definitions, synonyms, and antonyms
  • Foreshadowing and Dramatic Irony
    • Includes several activities, links, and handouts
  • Writing Letters-to-the-Editor
    • Includes ideas for learning to write letters based on the story
  • Exploring Foreshadowing Through Letter Writing
    • A letter writing activity exploring foreshadowing based on the story
• "The Way Up to Heaven"
  • Classroom Activities
    • Includes a number of questions and exercises pertaining to the story

Cover Illustrations

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First Edition, Vintage Books, 1978* [Buy this Book]

* Important: Please note that the "Buy this Book" link is for a new edition with this cover, not the one mentioned above.

Spanish Cover Illustration - "Los Mejores Relatos De Roald Dahl"

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