'But...but...who are you?' Little Billy asked.
'We are the Minpins,' the tiny man said, 'and we own this wood'.

Billy's mum says he must never go out through the garden gate and explore the dark forest beyond.

So, one day, that's exactly what he does!

There he meets the Minpins, tiny tree-dwelling people whose children are the size of matchsticks. They live in fear of the terrible, galloping GRUNCHER.

Will it gobble Billy too - or can he find a way to defeat the hungry beast?


The text in this edition of Billy and the Minpins was updated in 2022 for young independent readers.

Roald Dahl, illustrated by Quentin Blake