George Kranky is eight years old and lives on a farm with his parents and grandmother. One day, Mrs Kranky leaves George at home to look after Grandma while she goes shopping. George isn’t at all pleased – he’s bored at home alone and he doesn’t like Grandma one bit. She’s a nasty, selfish old woman who is always rude to George, especially when his parents aren’t at home. She likes to frighten him and say that she’s a witch with magic powers that can change him into any shape she likes.

Roald Dahl’s books appeal to children because his stories carry a message about right and wrong which children understand. Dahl’s writing style is playful and inventive, and includes rhyme, rhythm, repetition, nonsense words and sound symbolism (onomatopoeia).<

Mr Twit is a dirty, hairy, unpleasant man. Mrs Twit is ugly on the outside and ugly on the inside. She even carries a stick to hit animals and small children. The Twits enjoy playing mean tricks on each other, too. They really aren’t very nice people at all!

Roald Dahl’s books appeal to children because his stories carry a message about right and wrong which children understand. Dahl’s writing style is playful and inventive, and includes rhyme, rhythm, repetition, nonsense words and sound symbolism (onomatopoeia).

Penguin Kids are six level simplified story books for children learning English. MP3 audio is available at www.penguinkidsaudio.com, teachers' factsheets: www.pearsonelt.com/penguinkids