Spelling Seeds have been designed to complement Writing Roots by providing weekly, contextualised sequences of sessions for the teaching of spelling that include open-ended investigations and opportunities to practise and apply within meaningful and purposeful contexts, linked (where relevant) to other areas of the curriculum and a suggestion of how to extend the investigation into home learning. 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? 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. Little Billy’s mother was always telling him exactly what he was allowed to do and what he was not allowed to do’. Make a list of things that you are / aren’t allowed to do. Can you think of reasons why you aren’t allowed to do certain things (see Resources below)? Our mission is to foster a universal passion for reading by partnering with authors to help create stories and communicate ideas that inform, entertain, and inspire.

The Gruncher uses his sense of smell to find humans. What other animals use smell? How are their noses adapted for this?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. 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.

All the things he was allowed to do were boring.All the things he was not allowed to do were exciting. 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? Like most I devoured Dahl as a kid, there was something magical about the stories. Some of that charm was Quentin Blake's illustrations, they just fitted so perfectly. 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?

These were the words the Devil whisperedsoftly into Little Billy’s ear on that sunny summer afternoon. Whangdoodles are worse,” his mother said, “and Hornswogglers and Snozzwanglers and Vermicious Knids. 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. But the Minpins are in danger. The terrible, galloping Gruncher stalks the forest, and the Minpins are disappearing in their thousands. Can Billy find a way to destroy the hungry beast, once and for all--or will it gobble him up too? Use different types of media to show some of the other creatures that might live in The Forest of Sin.

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) Little Billy did not believe a word of this. He guessed his mother was making it all up just tofrighten him and stop him ever going out of thehouse alone.His first children's book was The Gremlins, about mischievous little creatures that were part of RAF folklore. The book was commissioned by Walt Disney for a film that was never made, and published in 1943. Dahl went on to create some of the best-loved children's stories of the 20th century, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda and James and the Giant Peach. Just then a funny thing happened. Little Billy began to hear somebody whispering in his ear. He knew exactly who it was. It was the Devil. The Devil always started whispering to him when hewas especially bored. One of Dahl's beloved stories available for the first time in novel format and newly illustrated by Quentin Blake! 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. Little Billy's mum says he must never go out through the garden gate and explore the dark forest beyond.