Selfish Giant, The - NHPBS

1 THE Selfish GIANTby Oscar Wilde, ill. by Gertraud & WalterReinerThemes: Fairy Tales, SeasonsGrade Level: K-2 Running Time: 14 minutes, animated, B&WSUMMARYThis is the story of a giant who returns tohis home after many years to discover thatchildren have been using his garden to playin. This upsets the giant , who erects a wallto keep the children out. The cold winterrefuses to give in to the brilliance of springwithout the children. One day, the giantnotices sunshine coming in through his win-dow. He discovers that children havecrawled through a hole in the wall, enteredthe garden and climbed into the trees, mak-ing them blossom. In the farthest corner ofthe garden, the giant notices one little boywho is crying because he cannot climb upinto a tree. The giant helps the boy up anddiscovers that his life is much more pleasantthis way. The children once again enjoy thegarden and springtime fills the giant s story ends with the passing of the elderlygiant, who lies under a tree in his gardencovered with Children will learn about the joys of sharing.

2 Children will explore the seasons. Children will investigate the meaning VIEWING ACTIVITIESS hare the book, THESELFISHGIANT,withchildren. Then ask: Why do you think springtime always cameto the giant s garden when the childrenplayed there?Talk with children about the seasons. Ask: Which season is your favorite? Why? What kinds of weather do you enjoy most? What kinds of things do you do outdoors inthe summer? winter? spring? fall? What colors do you see during each season? What are some of the signs you see thattell you that spring is on the way? That win-ter is coming? That summer is almost here?That fall is arriving? (Ask children who live inareas where seasonal changes are not dra-matic to describe the subtle changes thatoccur.)Have children describe the kinds of thingsthey like to share with their friends and fami-ly. Ask: How do you feel when you share thesethings?

3 How do you feel when others share withyou? What can you do if a friend wants to usesomething of yours that is very special andimportant to you? What are some good ways to deal with sharing problems?AFTER VIEWING ACTIVITIESS upply twigs or tongue depressors,sheets of posterboard, crayons and pastethat children can use to create the giant sgarden. Have children paste thetwigs/tongue depressors onto the poster-board to create four separate squares, eachrepresenting the giant s garden during a dif-ferent season. Help children label each sec-tion of the garden summer, winter, spring andfall. Have children use their crayons to drawwithin each square what the garden mightlook like during each children perform a dramatization ofthe story, THESELFISHGIANT. Children canpaint a large garden scene on kraft paper touse as a backdrop. Attach cotton balls to atriangular piece of construction paper, attachstring to the paper and let the giant wear itas a beard.

4 Encourage children representingthe children in the story to describe the manydifferent signs of spring they see as theyromp and play in the giant s the ways the children in the storyfelt about the giant in the beginning and atthe end of the story. Ask children what kindsof things they think the giant and the childrenin the story enjoyed doing together once theygot to know one videos about seasons available fromWeston Woods include:Miss Rumphius by Brabra CooneyThe Snowy Day by Ezra Jack KeatsTime of Wonder by Robert McCloskeyTHE Selfish GIANTCALL 1-800-243-5020 TO ORDER THESE AND OTHER WESTON WOODS VIDEOS!This guide may be photocopied for free distribution without restriction