Selfish Giant

By: Oscar Wilde

Retold by: Marisa Agostinelli

Elizabeth Evans Cicconi

Paola Traferro

Illustrated by: Elena Iarussi

Editorial staff: Francesca Ceppi, Clarissa Coppari

Graphic dept.: Simona Albonetti

Illustrations: Elena Iarussi

Referenze fotografiche: iStock photo, Shutterstock, photographic archive Gruppo Ed. Raffaello

Printed in Italy by: Gruppo Editoriale Raffaello

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the Publishers.

Every effort has been made to acknowledge correctly and contact the source and/or copyright holder of material used in this book.

The publishers apologize for any unintentional errors or omissions and will be pleased to make corrections in future editions of this book.

© 2023

Raffaello Libri S.p.A. Via dell’Industria, 21 60037 - Monte San Vito (AN) www.celticpublishing.com info@grupporaffaello.it

About the book and the story

The Selfish Giant is a fairy tale written by Oscar Wilde in the 19th century. It is about a giant who has a beautiful garden full of flowers and with 12 peach trees. The children play there after school because the owner is away. When he returns, after seven years, they can’t play there anymore. So, they become very sad. But something strange happens: nothing grows there. Flowers don’t bloom and trees are bare. It’s always winter!

One day, though, spring comes again because the children could enter the garden from a hole. The giant sees that in a corner, winter is still there because a little boy can’t reach the branches of a tree. The giant understands that he is really selfish, he helps the boy and destroys the walls. The children notice the change in the giant and he starts playing with them.

Time flies and one day in winter, the old giant sees a tree with white blossoms in a corner and the wounded little boy on top of it. The giant asks who hurt him but the boy says it is the wounds of love. The boy asks the giant to come to his garden. The following day, the people find the giant dead under a tree filled with white blossoms.

1 Choose the right option (A, B or C).

What is a fairy tale?

A It is a story for children about mysterious events.

B It is a story for children about magic and imaginary lands and people.

C It is a sci-fi story.

2 Read and tick true (T), false (F) or not given (NG).

1. When the Giant comes back, the children can play in his garden. T F NG

2. There are flowers all the year long when he returns. T F NG

3. The children could go to the garden through a hole. T F NG

4. The little boy has blue eyes and blonde hair. T F NG

5. The Giant dies in his house. T F NG

3 Now answer the following questions.

1. Who wrote the Selfish Giant?

2. When was this fairy tale written?

3. How many peach trees has the giant got in his garden?

4. Who plays in his garden?

5. Can the children play in his garden when he returns?

Oscar Wilde: a brief biography

Oscar Wilde (full name Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde) was born in Dublin, Ireland on 16th October 1854. His dad was a well-known surgeon as well as a writer. His mum was a poet and a scholar of Celtic myth and folklore.

When he was a student, Oscar Wilde had a scholarship and went to Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, from 1871 to 1874 and then to Magdalen College at the University of Oxford in England, from 1874 to 1878.

In 1878, before finishing university, he won the Oxford’s Newdigate Prize for his long poem Ravenna.

Oscar Wilde was interested in the importance of art in life.

Oscar of art

He was really eccentric, he usually wore a velvet jacket, knee breeches, and black silk stockings.

In 1884 he married Constance Lloyd. The couple had two sons. He wrote book reviews and in 1888 published The Happy Prince and Other Tales, a romantic allegory (a story with more than one meaning) in the form of a fairy tale. In this work we find The Selfish Giant, too. During the 1890s, Oscar Wilde published his famous works. Right in 1890, he published his only novel The picture of Dorian Gray, which mirrors the author’s opinion on life and art.

The novel, in fact, is about the life of a young man who has eternal youth at the expense of his soul. The book was considered immoral.

In 1891 he wrote a lot like Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime, Intentions and Other Stories and A House of Pomegranates. Wilde was very famous for his plays. His first success was Lady Windermere’s Fan in 1892.

An Ideal Husband and The Importance of Being Earnest, his last ones were published in 1895.

In The Importance of Being Earnest Wilde wanted to criticize the Victorian Era and its hypocrisy.

Wilde’s life was always reckless. His last years are an example. He died on November 30th, 1900, in Paris.

The Giant

He is very big. He doesn’t care about the others. He is the protagonist.

The Children

They are other characters in the story because they play in the Giant’s garden.

The Little Boy

He is another important character in the story. The Giant helps him to reach the top of a tree.

Part 1