‘Dear Mama, I am having a lovely time here. We play football every day here. The beds have no springs . . .’
So begins the first letter that a nine-year-old Roald Dahl penned to his mother, Sofie Magdalene, under the watchful eye of his boarding-school headmaster. For most of his life, Roald Dahl would continue to write weekly letters to his mother, chronicling his adventures, frustrations and opinions, from the delights of childhood to the excitements of flying as a World War II fighter pilot and the thrill of meeting top politicians and movie stars during his time as a diplomat and spy in Washington. And, unbeknown to Roald, his mother lovingly kept every single one of them.
Sofie was, in many ways, Roald’s first reader. It was she who encouraged him to tell stories and nourished his desire to fabricate, exaggerate and entertain. Reading these letters, you can see Roald practicing his craft, developing the dark sense of humour and fantastical imagination that would later produce such timeless tales as The BFG, Matilda, Fantastic Mr Fox and The Witches.
The letters in Love from Boy are littered with jokes and madcap observations; sometimes serious, sometimes tender, and often outrageous. To eavesdrop on a son’s letters to his mother is to witness Roald Dahl turning from a boy to a man, and finally becoming a writer.
Twenty-five years ago in Boy, the world’s favorite storyteller recollected scenes from his youth―some funny, some frightening, all true. More About Boy is the expanded story of Roald Dahl’s childhood, with his original text augmented by never-before-seen material from behind the scenes, and some of the secrets that were left out. Dahl’s adventures and misadventures during his school years are crowded with people as strange and wonderful as any character he created and are as exciting and full of the unexpected as his celebrated fiction.
This special keepsake hardcover edition is filled with personal memorabilia such as family photos, letters, report cards, plus dozens of illustrations by Quentin Blake, as well as a quiz to test the knowledge of Dahl afficionados of all shapes and sizes.
My Year contains some of Roald Dahl’s most remarkable writing and is based on a diary he wrote during the final year of his life. In a month-by-month journey, he reflects on the past and present from many perspectives. Reminiscences of his childhood and adolescence are combined with tips on how to rid your lawn of moles or produce a first-class conker. All of this is woven into Roald Dahl’s observations of the changing seasons. Sure to delight kids and adults equally, My Year features evocative watercolours by Quentin Blake.
To identify: Used a standard single statement (‘First published’ followed by the date with later printings stated underneath) and published with a jacket priced at £7.95.
Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1986, USA.
To identify: Used a First Edition statement and published with a jacket priced at $14.95.
Connections:
Over to You is a collection of short stories about pilots and flying, much of which is autobiographical and similar to the stories in this book
“Katina” tells a story set in the Greek campaign that Dahl describes in this book
Important note: From 2022 onwards, Puffin has edited selected Dahl books to remove sensitive language and insert new sentences not written by Dahl. If you would prefer to read the original text, ensure you get a copy published before 2022 or one of the “Classic Collection” published by Penguin.
Description
In Going Solo, the world’s favourite storyteller, Roald Dahl, tells of life as a fighter pilot in Africa.
‘They did not think for one moment that they would find anything but a burnt-out fuselage and a charred skeleton, and they were astounded when they came upon my still-breathing body lying in the sand nearby.’
In 1938 Roald Dahl was fresh out of school and bound for his first job in Africa, hoping to find adventure far from home. However, he got far more excitement than he bargained for when the outbreak of the Second World War led him to join the RAF. His account of his experiences in Africa, crashing a plane in the Western Desert, rescue and recovery from his horrific injuries in Alexandria, flying a Hurricane as Greece fell to the Germans, and many other daring deeds, recreates a world as bizarre and unnerving as any he wrote about in his fiction.
“More pleasure in Dahl’s accounts from life than from his fables” by Ralph Elliott from the February 14, 1987 issue of The Canberra Times – Canberra, Australia (read online)
Roald Dahl’s personal stories together in one edition!
Where did Roald Dahl get all of his wonderful ideas for stories? From his own life, of course! Boy includes tales of sweetshops and chocolate, mean old ladies, and the Great Mouse Plot. And then Going Solo tells of how, when he grew up, Roald Dahl left England for Africa and later went flying with the Royal Air Force.
To identify: Standard practice statement (‘First published’ followed by the date with no later printings listed underneath), with jacket priced £6.50
Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1984, USA.
To identify: Standard practice statement ( ‘First Edition’ with date or ‘First American Edition’ with date, no later dates or printing statements), with jacket priced $10.95
Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1984, USA.
To identify: With slip case, not priced, signed by author & illustrator. Limitation page with number out of 200 copies.
Connections:
The schoolboy belief that licorice is made from rat’s blood also appears in “The Ratcatcher.”
Important note: From 2022 onwards, Puffin has edited selected Dahl books to remove sensitive language and insert new sentences not written by Dahl. If you would prefer to read the original text, ensure you get a copy published before 2022 or one of the “Classic Collection” published by Penguin.
Description
Where did Roald Dahl get all of his wonderful ideas for stories?
From his own life, of course! As full of excitement and the unexpected as his world-famous, best-selling books, Roald Dahl’s tales of his own childhood are completely fascinating and fiendishly funny. Did you know that Roald Dahl nearly lost his nose in a car accident? Or that he was once a chocolate candy tester for Cadbury’s? Have you heard about his involvement in the Great Mouse Plot of 1924? If not, you don’t yet know all there is to know about Roald Dahl. Sure to captivate and delight you, the boyhood antics of this master storyteller are not to be missed!
Six brand new lesson plans for teaching Roald Dahl's Boy: Tales of Childhood create by YPO to explore Literacy and PSHE objectives, whilst exploring themes such as descriptions, colourful characters and information gathering.
Students read and analyze a mentor text (an excerpt from the book), write their own narrative vignette, and analyze their use of pronouns in their vignette.
Designed to get students thinking critically about the text they read and provide a guided study format to facilitate in improved learning and retention
Covers
Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1984
Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1984
Puffin, 1986
Heinemann, 1986
Penguin, 1988
Penguin, 1988
Scholastic, 1998
Puffin, 1999
Puffin, 2001
Puffin, 2008
Puffin, 2009
Puffin, 2009
Penguin, 2011
Penguin, 2011
Puffin, 2009
Jonathan Cape, 2012
Penguin, 2024
Bulgarian Covers – Момче
Enthusiast
Catalan Covers – El nen
Estrella Polar
Czech Covers – Kluk
Volvox Globator, 2009
Estonian Covers – Poiss. Lapsepõlvelood
Draakon & Kuu, 2017
French Covers – Moi, Boy
Gallimard
Gallimard, 1997
Gallimard, 2001
Gallimard, 2007
Gallimard, 2016
German Covers – Boy – Schönes und Schrekliches aus meiner Kinderzeit
