Wonder Teller
Cover of The Selfish Giant
Classic StoriesPicture bookLevel 5Ages 6–8

The Selfish Giant

English · 29 pages · 1,657 words · 13 min read

Oscar Wilde’s original fairy tale, complete and in his own words with only a few words made easier, for readers ages 6–8: a selfish Giant walls children out of his garden and is left in endless winter until a little boy who cannot reach a tree melts his heart. Wilde’s ending is kept: years later the child returns, bearing the marks of nails, and the old Giant dies peacefully and goes with him to Paradise.

Read first 4 pages
Original work by
Oscar Wilde
Adapted by
Wonder Teller

A look inside

The opening of The Selfish Giant, free to read.

  1. Illustration from page 2 of The Selfish Giant

    Every afternoon, as they were coming from school, the children used to go and play in the Giant's garden. It was a large lovely garden, with soft green grass. Here and there over the grass stood beautiful flowers like stars, and there were twelve peach trees that in the springtime broke out into delicate blossoms of pink and pearl, and in the autumn bore rich fruit.

  2. Illustration from page 3 of The Selfish Giant

    The birds sat on the trees and sang so sweetly that the children used to stop their games in order to listen to them. "How happy we are here!" they cried to each other.

  3. Illustration from page 4 of The Selfish Giant

    One day the Giant came back. He had been to visit his friend the Cornish ogre, and had stayed with him for seven years. After the seven years were over he had said all that he had to say, for his conversation was limited, and he determined to return to his own castle.

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