 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Boy: Tales of Childhood
- By Roald Dahl
- Genre: Coming of Age
Common Sense Media says
Dahl autobiography focuses on nasty school days.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this well-written book is most entertaining when Dahl sustains one adventure (like the mouse-and-sweetshop caper). But while Dahl's drawings are lively and add a lot to the action, the photographs and letters he provides are somewhat less successful. The text does include somewhat graphic depictions of teachers beating students with wooden canes, which could upset younger readers.
What's the story?
Roald Dahl's anecdotal autobiography focuses mostly on his unpleasant experiences at three schools. Between ages seven and nine, Dahl attended school in his Welsh hometown, where he and his friends declared war on the neighborhood sweetshop witch and were roundly caned by the schoolmaster.
Attempting to save her son from such beatings, his mother sent him across the Channel to boarding school, where conditions were even worse and the boys had only each other in a world of authoritarian and often violent schoolmasters.
At thirteen, he was graduated to Repton, where his athletic abilities and his size shielded him slightly from the general atmosphere of persecution, though he makes it clear that the headmaster was a genuine sadist. In this last section, Dahl also looks forward in time to his coming adventures in Africa, and allows himself some observations about how his childhood experiences shaped his later life.
Is it any good?
Because Dahl tells repeatedly of the cruelty of schoolmasters who constantly refined their caning techniques on him, some children will be saddened, and others enraged, by the unfairness of it all. These scenes clearly show the child's vulnerability in an adult world. But, unlike in most novels -- such as Dahl's own -- in this true story, the abusers never get their comeuppance. These are not reasons for children to avoid BOY, however; they may, in fact, be reasons children will respond to the book, which promotes the values of honest courage and determination. It also has lighter descriptions of teachers, such as the eccentric old bachelor, Corkers.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about the harsh realities of the author's boyhood experiences and how the subject of school punishment is handled differently when it comes to today's kids.
Do you admire Dahl for enduring abuse at the hands of his
schoolteachers, do you pity him, or is it a little bit of both? Would
you have enjoyed being a student at his school?If you were to write a
book of tales from your childhood, which incidents would you include?Would you include bad things that happened to you as well as good
things? If so, why?
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AGE
I am simply insulted how this book got 3 stars
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AGE
I laughed!
I think this book is very interesting. It tells about a real pearsons past, which means it's a autobiography. I love the book!
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AGE
A Loveable Book
This book will make you want to read it again and again !!!!
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AGE
Great for children and adults alike.
I loved this book! Although there are several grotesque situations, this wonderful and humorous book is truly a work of art.
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AGE
It was such a heart warrmed story!
It was perfect! HE went threw many troubles in his life starting at a early age, and they just inspire me!
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AGE
Good for big kids
This was good for older kids to teens and adults, but may upset younger readers. Young children may also loose interest quicker. But I recomend it.
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Kid, 12 years old
May 3, 2010
AGE
Perfect for ages 8 - 12
I adore Boy tales of childhood because, as a child of 10, a little older than he in most of the story, I completely understand his point of view. It is violent because of several very graphic descriptions of school canings, and it send out bad examples with for example the great mouse plot, but it is educational. It teaches children not to get mad. To get even. I rate this book 5* because it is funny and silly as well as serious and understanding with true emotion.
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| Author: | Roald Dahl |
| Book type: | Fiction |
| Genre: | Coming of Age |
| Publisher: | Penguin Group |
| Publication date: | January 1, 1984 |
| Number of pages: | 176 |
| Paperback price: | $6.99 |
| Publisher's recommended age(s): | 12 - 14 |
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