Short and Shocking : A book of very short stories with a twist in the tail

This is a collection of entertaining anecdotes, none more than two pages long and some only a dozen lines, which teachers will find handy to round off a lesson or an afternoon, or indeed as stimulus for children to try out their own short, jokey and surprising stories. The tales derive mostly from the folk story tradition, both British and American, and even current jokes are turned to good account. More than once already I have heard the one about the fast driver who reacts angrily to shouts of ‘Pig!’ from an oncoming car, only to turn the corner and find a pig in the road. ‘Crossroads’, by contrast, is a short version of Chaucer’s ‘Pardoner’s Tale’. Many of the stories concern dupes and tricksters, and there is a group of mini-stories about Old Ted, who is sometimes stupid and sometimes shrewd. Nothing is very original here, but these neatly shaped miniature narratives will give plenty of classroom fun.