The ELI Readers collection is a com plete range

of books and plays for readers of all ages,

ranging from captivating contem porary stories
to tim eless classics. There are three series,
each catering for a different age group;
Young ELI Readers, Teen ELI Readers and
Young Adult ELI Readers. The books are
carefully edited and beautifully illustrated
to capture the essence of the stories and plots.

The Canterville Ghost

by O scar Wilde
Retold, activities and poem by Ja n e C adw allader
Illustrated by G ustavo Mazali

ELI Readers
Founder and Series Editors
Paola Accattoli, G razia Ancillani,
Daniele G arbuglia (Art Director)

Graphic Design
Sergio Elisei

Eli Design Department

D iletta Brutti

Production Manager
Francesco C apitano

Typeset in 14 / 2 0 pt M onotype Plantin Schoolbook

© 2 0 1 2 ELI s.r.l.
P.O. Box 6 - 6 2 0 1 9 Recanati MC - Italy
T + 39 0 7 1 7 5 0 7 0 1 - F + 39 0 7 1 9 7 7 8 5 1
info@ elionline.com

Printed in Italy by T ecnostam pa R ecanati

ERY313.01
ISBN 9 7 8 -8 8 -5 3 6 -0 7 6 9 -0

First edition: M arch 2 0 1 2

From responsible
sources

www.fsc.org FSC® C019318

The FSC certification guarantees that the paper used For this series of ELI
in these publications comes from certified forests, graded readers, we have
promoting responsible forestry management worldwide. planted 5000 new trees.
Retcrld, activities and pcrem
hy Jane Cadwallader
Illustrated hy Gustaw Mazali
PICTURE DICTIONARY
The Caaterville Ghost

chains

garden

ghost
 PICTURE DICTIONARY
The Canterville Ghost

jewels

pumpkin skeleton

' <St « t

/t T

n n

tree twins

wall wood
 r Otis was a businessman from
America. He wanted to buy Lord
Canterville’s house but Lord
Canterville said, ‘I have to tell you M r Otis,
there is a ghost in this house.’ ‘A ghost?’ asked
M r Otis, ‘But my dear Lord Canterville there
are no ghosts!’
‘Well Lord Can arted to say, but
M r Otis said, ‘D on’ -ord Canterville,
I will buy your housi
and M r Otis bough
 *• * .
M r Otis was married and had four
a son called Washington, a daughter called
Virginia and two happy noisy twin boys.
> M r Otis said, ‘Lord Canterville told me ti
* a ghost in the hou^e!’ ‘A ghost! How
M r Otis’s son, Washington, took a small black
crayon from his pocket. ‘Pinkerton’s special
cleaner will clean this,’ he said ... and it did.
‘Look! The blood is disappearing!?
But the next morning at breakfast TH E BLOOD
WAS ON TH E FLOOR AGAIN! ‘H ow did that
happen?’ asked M r Otis. The boys danced and
sang ‘It was the ghost!’ ‘D on’t be silly !’ said
Mrs Otis.
SO! There IS a ghost! M r Otis looked at the
ghost of Sir Simon Canterville. ‘C an I offer
you some Tam m any Oil? Your chains are very
noisy.’ The ghost looked at M r Otis angrily but
SUDDENLY a big pillow flew past the ghost’s
head and m ade him jump. He turned and
went straight through the wall.
Sir Simon visited the Otis family again and
again. He tried lots of different things. He even
tried saying a poem ...
 I am theghost o f Canterville
I ’ll make you jum p or make you
For 300 years I ’ve been around
Shouting and clanking on the ground.
So be careful and don’t look behind
You never know what you could find!

... but nothing worked!

The Otis family just wasn’t
afraid of ghosts!
Sir Simon went to speak to the ghost but ... the
ghost was on the floor. ‘Oh dear,’ said Sir Simon
But, when he went nearer, he saw it was only
a sheet, a brush, and a pumpkin! IT WASN’T A
REAL GHOST!
Now Sir Simon stayed in his room. He was very
sad and a little afraid of what the twins could
do next!
One sunny day Sir Simon looked out of the
window. M r Otis’s daughter, Virginia, was horse
riding with her friend, the Duke of Cheshire.
15
Virgina came into the house. She was just about
to go up the stairs, to her room when she saw a
green light. T: ':
The light came from under
a door. She pushed the door
open and: V saw the ghost on a 7
«'

chair next to a table. He looked

very sad. ‘Poor ghost/ she said,
‘w hat’s the matter?’
T he ghost looked at Virg ina. ‘W hat’s
he said. ‘I can’t sleep and l am so tired
to sleep in the garden under the; big
wood. I want to listen to the silence
yesterday and no tomorrow. But I have to stay
here and be a g h o st... and with your family that
isn’t easy!’
Virgina said, ‘Poor Sir Simon! C an I help you?
‘Yes you can!’ said Sir Simon, ‘I am bad but y<
are good. Come with me and ask the Angel of
Death to forgive me and then I can sleep at la:
Virginia was afraid but she wanted to help Sir
Simon. ‘Alright,’ she said, ‘let’s go.’
The ghost and Virginia walked through a wall to
find the Angel. As they disappeared, all that was
left behind was the ghost of Canterville’s poem.
 I am the ghost o f Canterville
I ’ll make you jum p or make you
For 300 years Fve been around
Shouting and clanking on the ground.
So be careful and don look behind
You never know what you could find!
wmmm' :$*V?■-■ W*$S
'mL,
►) 6 Everyone looked for Virginia. Lord Cheshire, who
was a little in love with Virginia, ran upstairs and
downstairs and in the garden. ‘Virginia! Virginia!
Where are you?’ he called.
MaBKSm
| |
■
• ■- •

1 -V :r ’ isP *
fv V - / *■>. . .-'.v -J
P ..

" • J
•V • : - < . £ i a S S
k
M r\
*
0
^ • • //.
if * ” !/ ?L ~> „
SUDDENLY they heard a big CRASH and
Virginia was there, at the top of the stairs. She
had an old box in her hand. Inside were some
■

beautiful jewels. She looked at her family and

said, ‘You aren’t going to see Sir Simon again.
Virginia took her father and mother and brothers
to the ghost’s room. There was a skeleton chained
to the wall. Virginia said, ‘Poor Sir Simon. His
wife’s brothers chained him to the wall and
he died of hunger.’The twins said, ‘WOW! A
skeleton! And chains!’
 mf

. They buried Sir Simon in the garden under the

VJ; * • V; #f-' ‘ . V '■ ’: ^
. , v , y-

big tree near the wood. Lord Canterville came

too. M r Otis told him about the jewels but
■
# 'h e said, ‘Sir Simon gave the jewels to Viriginia
and they are for her.’
* visited Sir Simon’s grave some years later.
‘W hat happened when you were with the ghost?’
her husband asked. ‘I can ’t tell you,’Virginia
answered. ‘I,,can only say Sir Simon helped me to
understand about Life and D eath and that Love
is stronger than both.’ (■)
L '':
27
:--y; - V : '; " - v ' ■ " ' /■
 activity podges
1 Circle the correct words to tell the story.

1 Sir Simon killed his brother I

2 The brothers I sisters Sir Simon’s wiji
chained him to a wall.
3 He died of hunger / anger.
4 The Otis family were I weren’t afraid
of the ghost.
5 Sir Simon was a happy I an unhappy ghost.
6 Virginia helped / didn’t help the ghost.
7 Virginia went with the ghost to Jind the
Angel oj Death / Lady Canterville.
8 Sir Simon helped Mr Otis / Virginia to
learn about love and death.
 Look at the poem on. page 11.
Colour the words that are in tke poem.

ghost jump businessman

house morning

ill shouting

behind years

see wind

night wi/e

find sheet

e N ow use tke words to /ill tke gaps in

tke poem.

I am the ghost of Canterville

I’ll make you . _____ or make y o u _______
For 3 0 0 I’ve been around
a___ and clanking on the ground.
So be careful and don’t look /'
You never know what you could
c

29
1 There was blood on the wall.
There was blood ori the floor_____
2 It was the blood Mr Otis’s wije.

3 Sir Simon killed his wije in 1675.

4 Sir Simon disappeared 2 0 years after he killed

his wije.

5 Sir Simon came back as the Canterville businessman.

30
 Match the words to the people and write
their nam es.

. , fiuiiy kind
ricfl unhappy
angry beauti/ul
jriendly naughty

Label the parts o /t h e ghost and write the

sentence.
brush pumpkin lamp sheet

31
Im agine you saw the ghost o f Sir Simon.
Draw w hat he looked like and write a
description.

I saw the CantervLlle Ghost. He was

Did you like the story? Draw your fa ce and

choose a sentence to write.
(r^) = I love the story!

( ^ ) = I like the story.

( ^ ) = I quite like the story.

( l l ) = I don’t like the story.

 V ocabulary areas
Time, fam ily and friends, the home, w eather

G ram m ar arid structures

Present, present continuous, past
Verb + Infinitive
Adverbs
Oscar Wilde Descriptive adjectives
( 1 8 5 4 - 1 9 0 0 ) w as Prepositions of place
from Ireland. He w as
fam ou s for Kls clever
sense of Kumour. He
m ostly wrote plays
and poem s but he
also wrote som e
stories for children.
These often have a Young ELI Readers
m essage that Is useful
for everyone. Stage 1
A nonym ous, Aladdin and tke M agic Lamp
D. Gulllemant, Hooray fo r tke Holidays
D. Gulllemant, Sopkie’s Dream
J. C adw allader, Granny Fixit and tke Yellow String
J. C adw allader, Granny Fixit and tke Pirate
J. C adw allader, Granny Fixit and tke Ball

Stage 2
L.F. Baum, Tke W onderful W izard o f OZ
J. C adw allader, PB3 and Coco tke Clown
J. Cadw allader, PB3 and tke Vegetables
J. C adw allader, PB3 and tke Jacket

Stage 3
My nam e Is Gustavo. 0 . Wilde, Tke Canterville G kost
I live In a very big J. Cadw allader, Uncle Jack and tke M eerkats
city, Buenos Aires. J. C adw allader, Uncle Jack and tke Emperor Penguins
I have been drawing J. C adw allader, Uncle Jack and tke Bakonzi Tree
all my life, ever since J.M . Barrie, Peter Pan
I w as a child as
Stage 4
I didn’t have a TV.
J. London, W kite Fang
I enjoy most of all
J. C adw allader, Harry and tke Sports C om petition
drawing comic strips J. C adw allader, Harry and an Electrical Problem
and picturing m yself J. Cadw allader, Harry and tke Crown
and my kids In the P. Bellini, Tke Secret Passage
Illustrations that L. Carroll, Alice in W onderland
I create. R. Kipling, Tke Jungle Book
 Ell Readers Is a beautifully illustrated series of tim eless classics
and specially-written stories for learners of English.

Oscar Wilde
The Canterville Ghost
Do you believe in ghosts? Well, the Otis fam ily didn’t until they
met the Canterville G h o s t .
This is a story of life arid death and love ... of a ghost trapped in the
present because of the bad thing he did in the past and how a young girl
helps him to move on.

- Games and language activities

- An audio recording of the story
- A picture dictionary

Tags
The Supernatural Human values

C^) Stage 1 100 headwords below A1 Starters

Q Stage 2 200 headwords A1 Starters/Movers
Q Stage 3 300 headwords A1.1 Movers
(~ ) Stage 4 400 headwords A2 Flyers
Classic
ERNST KLETT
SPRACHEN GMBH
9783125148291
Full text on CD
A
V W /\
s " "783125"148291
%%% www.elireaders.com 978-3-12-514829-1