The NCERT Class 8 English book Honeydew is the main English reader for Class 8 — the official NCERT PDFs of all 8 chapters are on this page, ready to download. The book runs to 8 chapters across 114 printed pages, organised as units rather than numbered lesson-sections, with five poems paired beside the prose.
This page adds what the PDF alone does not: a unit-by-unit map of what each chapter actually teaches, the poems paired with each unit, the question count each PDF carries, and which parts of the book carry the heaviest exercise load. Take the file from the download table below, then use the chapter breakdown to plan your reading and revision.
NCERT Class 8 English Book Honeydew: Official PDF Downloads
All 8 files in the table are NCERT’s own PDFs, served from ncert.nic.in — the same files CBSE schools use — and free to download, with no login or registration needed. The full set is hosted on the official NCERT textbook page for Class 8 English, which also carries the current edition numbers.
| Ch. | Chapter | Pages | Official PDF |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Notes for the Teacher | 23 | |
| 2 | Before you read | 12 | |
| 3 | Before you read | 14 | |
| 4 | Notes for the Teacher | 22 | |
| 5 | Before you read | 11 | |
| 6 | Before you read | 10 | |
| 7 | Before you read | 9 | |
| 8 | Notes for the Teacher | 13 |
- The table gives each PDF, its unit title, its page count and its official NCERT link.
- Each link opens the file directly from ncert.nic.in — no download page, no login.
- The 8 files are the current NCERT edition, numbered hehd101 to hehd108.
The Book at a Glance
The bullets below summarise the book’s shape in numbers; deeper per-chapter detail sits in the chapter directory on this page.
- 8 chapters, printed as units — Honeydew is organised as units rather than numbered lesson-sections.
- 114 printed pages across the 8 official PDFs (hehd101 to hehd108).
- 5 poems paired beside the prose chapters.
- 64 questions across the book — 58 inside the chapters (Comprehension Check and Working with the text) and 6 as separate exercises.
- 0 numbered sections and 0 activities — Honeydew is a literary reader built from named exercise blocks.
The table below is a reading map, not a chapter directory: it shows how the book pairs its prose with poems.
| Unit | Prose chapter | Paired poem | Shape of the unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Best Christmas Present in the World | The Ant and the Cricket | story and verse fable |
| 2 | The Tsunami | Geography Lesson | narrative and poem |
| 3 | Glimpses of the Past | — | picture panels with captions |
| 4 | Bepin Choudhury’s Lapse of Memory | The Last Bargain | story and poem |
| 5 | The Summit Within | The School Boy | personal essay and poem |
| 6 | This is Jody’s Fawn | — | story |
| 7 | A Visit to Cambridge | — | travel narrative |
| 8 | A Short Monsoon Diary | On the Grasshopper and Cricket | diary and poem |
Five of the eight units carry a poem; three are prose only.
What’s Inside Each Chapter
| Ch. | Chapter | Sections | Activities | Figures | Questions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Notes for the Teacher | — | — | — | 11 |
| 2 | Before you read | — | — | — | 13 |
| 3 | Before you read | — | — | — | 10 |
| 4 | Notes for the Teacher | — | — | — | 11 |
| 5 | Before you read | — | — | — | 3 |
| 6 | Before you read | — | — | — | 10 |
| 7 | Before you read | — | — | — | 4 |
| 8 | Notes for the Teacher | — | — | — | 2 |
- Sections counts one of the book’s own numbered headings — Honeydew has none, because its chapters are literary units organised into named blocks.
- Figures counts numbered figures with captions. The page does not list illustrations because this edition prints them without captions.
- Questions counts the comprehension questions and exercises together — 64 across the book — and the unit entries below quote those numbers.
Every unit opens with a Before you read box; prose units then move through Comprehension Check, Working with the text and Working with language. Two units print a Working with the poem section after their poem — Unit 2 after Geography Lesson and Unit 5 after The School Boy.
Chapter 1: The Best Christmas Present in the World, with the poem The Ant and the Cricket
The opening unit of Honeydew pairs a First World War story built around a soldier’s letter found in an old desk with the verse fable The Ant and the Cricket, about a cricket who sang all summer and must face winter without food or shelter. It is the volume’s longest PDF because it opens the book.
- Before you read
- Comprehension Check
- Working with the text
- Working with language
This PDF runs 23 pages, the longest span in the book, and carries 11 questions.
Chapter 2: The Tsunami, with the poem Geography Lesson
This unit is built around the tsunami, with accounts set in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and carries two further recorded passages, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Betty at the Party, before the poem Geography Lesson, about seeing the earth from the window of an aeroplane.
The unit’s accounts centre on how people faced the wave; the poem lifts the view to the world from above.
- Before you read
- Comprehension Check
- Working with the text
- Working with language
- Speaking and writing
- Working with the poem
The 12-page PDF carries 13 questions, the highest count in the book.
Chapter 3: Glimpses of the Past — a picture history in nine dated panels
This unit is not a conventional prose chapter. It teaches Indian history from the East India Company’s conquests to the Revolt of 1857 as a picture history in nine dated panels, each pairing an illustration with a short account. Read in order, the panels work as a visual timeline.
- The Martyrs
- The Company’s conquests (1757-1849)
- British Rule (1765-1836)
- Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1833)
- Oppression (1765-1835)
- Dissatisfaction (1835-56)
- The Sparks (1855-57)
- Revolt (1857)
- The Fight for Freedom (1857)
The 14-page PDF runs 10 questions that split into 16 parts — the most fragmented unit in the book, matching its nine-panel structure. No poem in this unit.
Chapter 4: Bepin Choudhury’s Lapse of Memory, with the poem The Last Bargain
The prose story follows a man persuaded that he has forgotten a trip to Ranchi, turning on memory and doubt. The unit pairs it with The Last Bargain, about what a person can be hired with and what actually sets a person free.
- Before you read
- Comprehension Check
- Working with the text
- Working with language
This 22-page PDF, the second-longest span in the book, carries 11 questions.
Chapter 5: The Summit Within, with the poem The School Boy
The prose essay reflects on reaching the summit of Mount Everest and on the inner summit of courage and self-discovery. The unit pairs it with The School Boy, about a boy’s resentment of school on a summer morning, and also records the short reading passages The One Furrow and The Other Way Round.
- Before you read
- Comprehension Check
- Working with the text
- Working with language
- Speaking and writing
- Working with the poem
The 11-page PDF carries only 3 numbered questions, but they expand into 13 parts — the most part-heavy span in the book.
Chapter 6: This is Jody’s Fawn
A story about a boy’s guilt and gratitude after a doe’s liver saves his father’s life, and his wish to bring the fawn home. It is the book’s plainest prose unit: one story, no poem, no extra passages.
- Before you read
- Comprehension Check
- Working with the text
- Working with language
The 10-page PDF carries 10 questions — a middle-of-the-road load — and no paired poem.
Chapter 7: A Visit to Cambridge
A travel narrative of a visit to Cambridge centred on a meeting with Stephen Hawking, a conversation about ability, disability and the human spirit. The unit also records the light verse A Crooked Rhyme.
- Before you read
- Comprehension Check
- Working with the text
- Working with language
- Speaking and writing
The 9-page PDF is the leanest prose span in the book and carries 4 questions that split into 12 parts. No paired poem.
Chapter 8: A Short Monsoon Diary, with the poem On the Grasshopper and Cricket
The main text is a diary of the monsoon’s arrival in the hills, recorded day by day, and the unit ends with the poem On the Grasshopper and Cricket, on nature’s song in every season.
- Dated diary entries: June 24, June 25, June 27, August 2, August 3, August 12
- Before you read
- Comprehension Check
The 13-page final PDF carries just 2 questions, the lightest load in the book.
Chapter Study Pages
The study pages for individual Honeydew chapters live here, and each one publishes as it is built.
| Ch. | Chapter page |
|---|---|
| 1 | Notes for the Teacher (coming soon) |
| 2 | Before you read (coming soon) |
| 3 | Before you read (coming soon) |
| 4 | Notes for the Teacher (coming soon) |
| 5 | Before you read (coming soon) |
| 6 | Before you read (coming soon) |
| 7 | Before you read (coming soon) |
| 8 | Notes for the Teacher (coming soon) |
Where the Exercise Load Sits
The question counts in the chapter directory on this page show exactly where the practice load sits, and each number can be checked against the unit notes above.
- Unit 2 (The Tsunami) carries 13 questions, the most in the book.
- Units 1 and 4 — The Best Christmas Present in the World and Bepin Choudhury’s Lapse of Memory — carry 11 each.
- Unit 5 (The Summit Within) has only 3 numbered questions, but they expand into 13 parts.
- Unit 3 (Glimpses of the Past) splits 10 questions into 16 parts, matching its nine-panel structure.
- Unit 8 (A Short Monsoon Diary) is the lightest at 2 questions.
For revision planning, the practice load concentrates in the first, second and fourth PDFs; the lightest stretch is the final unit.
How to Use This Book for Study
- Read the units in book order — the sequence runs from the First World War letter of Unit 1 to the monsoon diary of Unit 8.
- Answer each unit’s Before you read box as a warm-up before you read the text.
- Stop at each Comprehension Check — Honeydew prints it inside the chapter, not at the end — and answer it before moving on.
- Finish each prose unit with Working with the text and Working with language, and do Speaking and writing aloud or with a partner where the unit carries it.
- Read poems aloud first. Units 2 and 5 print a Working with the poem section after Geography Lesson and The School Boy — use those questions to check your reading.
- Budget revision with the question counts in the chapter directory: Units 1, 2 and 4 carry most of the load, Unit 8 the least, and Unit 3 (Glimpses of the Past) doubles as a ready timeline from 1757 to 1857.
Textbook contents and the examinable syllabus are not always identical — check the current official CBSE syllabus, which settles what is examinable for Class 8 English.
Related Resources
This listing is maintained for the 2026-27 academic session using the NCERT textbook information available to us. NCERT remains the authority for confirming the latest edition.
- All NCERT books by class — the complete books directory, from the earliest classes up.
- Class 8 hub — every NCERT subject and book for Class 8, including the other English reader.
Sources and Data Verification
- What this page describes: the current NCERT Honeydew textbook, the main English reader for Class 8, in the edition whose PDFs are published on ncert.nic.in as hehd101 to hehd108.
- Coverage: this page covers Honeydew only — not It So Happened, not other Class 8 English materials, and not the full CBSE scheme.
- Maintained for the current academic session, using the edition of Honeydew currently published on ncert.nic.in.
- Who settles what: NCERT settles textbooks, editions and PDFs; CBSE settles the curriculum, syllabus and examinations — for exam scope, check the official CBSE syllabus.
Reference: NCERT Class 8 English (Honeydew) textbook, official edition on ncert.nic.in. Figure captions and section titles quoted from the textbook; page references are to the official PDF.
Frequently Asked Questions about Honeydew
How many chapters are in the NCERT Class 8 English book Honeydew?
Honeydew has 8 chapters, printed as units across 114 pages, with 5 poems paired beside the prose chapters. The longest unit spans 23 pages and the shortest 9.
Is the Honeydew PDF on this page the official NCERT file?
Yes. Every link in the download table opens NCERT’s own file on ncert.nic.in, served as hehd101 to hehd108. The files are free and need no login.
Which unit of Honeydew covers the Revolt of 1857?
Unit 3, Glimpses of the Past. Its nine picture panels run from The Martyrs to Revolt (1857) and The Fight for Freedom (1857).
Which unit has the poem On the Grasshopper and Cricket?
Unit 8, alongside A Short Monsoon Diary. The poem closes the final unit of the book.
What is the difference between Honeydew and It So Happened in Class 8 English?
Honeydew is the main English reader for Class 8, and It So Happened is the separate NCERT supplementary reader. Schools usually teach both, but this page covers Honeydew only.
Are answers to the Honeydew exercises included on this page?
No. This page maps the book and its units — chapter contents, poem pairings and question counts. The exercises are for practice, and their correction is your teacher’s call at school.