The BFG

The Big Friendly Giant

When Sophie is snatched out of her window by a giant she is lucky to find the giant who took her is not a killer giant but instead he is a big, friendly giant. If Sophie had been taken by Bloodbottler, Fleshlumpeater, Bonecruncher or any of the other giants, she would have been dinner. Instead she is taken by a fun loving, dream spreading giant who wants his fellow giants to stop eating children. With the help of Sophie and his bottled dreams, he is able to brew up a dream that might be able to help stop the giants from eating humans. Will they be able to do it? Roald Dahl takes us into an imaginary land in The BFG.

Teachers... here are some resources and ideas to help you teach this novel.

Web Resources:

• Reader's Theater: A 10 minute Reader's Theater for the BFG
• Activities: A few activities to use with the BFG.

Vocabulary: Here are some words that may need to be pretaught: dormitory, desolate, brute, colossal, preposterous, transfigured, perambulator, winsome, reverberate, diabolical, contemptuous, absurd, petrified, beseechingly, fiasco, ravenous.

Activities:
Before Reading: If you have ever read any Roald Dahl books, what type of fantasy story do you predict will happen in this novel based on the cover of the book and what you know about other books written by Roald Dahl. Think/Pair/Share and discuss your predictions.

During Reading:

• Take a passage that you have read up to this point. Translate what the BFG says to Sophie so that it is in proper English.
• After reading the Dreams chapter, have students create a dream recipe.

After Reading: What do you think would have happened if the dream for the Queen did not work? Write a new ending to the novel.

Dahl, R. (1982). The BFG . New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux.

Happy Reading (&Running) =)