Books

Completely Unexpected Tales

Information   Description   Teacher Resources   Cover Illustration

Information

• First editions:
  • Penguin Books, 1986, Great Britain.
• Contains:
  • "Dip in the Pool"
  • "Edward the Conqueror"
  • "Galloping Foxley"
  • "Genesis and Catastrophe"
  • "Georgy Porgy"
  • "Lamb to the Slaughter"
  • "Man From the South"
  • "Mr. Botibol"
  • "Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat"
  • "My Lady Love, My Dove"
  • "Neck"
  • "Nunc Dimittis"
  • "Parson's Pleasure"
  • "Poison"
  • "Royal Jelly"
  • "Skin"
  • "Taste"
  • "The Butler"
  • "The Hitchhiker"
  • "The Landlady"
  • "The Sound Machine"
  • "The Umbrella Man"
  • "The Way Up to Heaven"
  • "Vengeance is Mine Inc."
  • "William and Mary"

Description

"Completely Unexpected Tales" brings together in one volume "Tales of the Unexpected" and "More Tales of the Unexpected." The 25 tales add up to a deliciously dark and bitter soufflé with a sting at the center. [from roalddahl.com]

Teacher Resources

• "Dip in the Pool"
  • Classroom Activities
    • Includes a number of questions and exercises pertaining to the story
  • Additional Classroom Question
    • Suggested question to tack on the end of Jocelyn Allen's Classroom Activities
• "Galloping Foxley"
  • Classroom Activities
    • Includes a number of questions and exercises pertaining to the story
• "Lamb to the Slaughter"
  • Classroom Activities
    • Includes a reading jigsaw, ranking features of the perfect murder, and vocabulary matching task
  • 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"
• "Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat"
  • Classroom Activities
    • Includes a number of questions and exercises pertaining to the story
• "My Lady Love, My Dove"
  • 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
• "Poison"
  • Online Games
    • Online matching, concentration, and flash card games with concepts from the book
  • Classroom Activities
    • Includes vocabulary, plot summary, and creative writing
• "Taste"
  • Classroom Activities
    • Includes a number of questions and exercises pertaining to the story
  • Classroom Ideas
    • Includes some ideas for teaching grammar
• "The Butler"
  • Classroom Activities
    • Includes a number of questions and exercises pertaining to the story
• "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"
  • 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
  • Classroom Activities
    • Includes a making your own story exercise (using extracts from Dahl's story) and questions
  • 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 Illustration