Roald Dahl's story telling abilities shined through as much through his autobiography as through his fiction works. Dahl's narrative of his boyhood intrigued me. I appreciated Dahl's commitment to his writing style. While reading
Boy, I couldn't help but make endless connections to his other authored works. Dahl's ruthless headmasters reminded me of none other that the dreadful Ms. Trunchbull of
Matilda. And the candy shop of Dahl's walks to primary school pointed to no other book than
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (in fact, Dahl explicitly makes this connection for the reader).
Throughout the pages, Dahl includes pictures and letters from his boyhood that make his stories come to life. I often found myself staring at one of Dahl's pictures, looking for every detail, just wondering if Dahl knew at six-years-old that he would be a famous author one day. I often forget that the iconic figures in our lives once had a childhood, too. How wonderful it is that Dahl wrote this book because young readers can see that Dahl had similar trials, tribulations, and triumphs as they do. Children can read how Dahl transformed from a "normal" boy into a beloved children's book author. I hope the opportunity will arise in my future elementary school classroom to read
Boy as a class.
Nothing touched me more than Dahl's letters signed "love from Boy." The inclusion of these letters, seeing Dahl's own handwriting signing "Boy," made the title of the book increasingly significant.
When I checked this out at the library, I saw that a sequel accompanies this book. Titled
Going Solo, the book includes more narratives of Dahl's life. I am relieved there is a sequel, as Dahl ended
Boy writing that his adventures post-high school are "a different tale altogether" that "if all goes well, I may have a shot at telling it one of these days." And he did! In
Going Solo, Dahl, in similar story telling fashion, tells the tales of his days in Africa and as a RAF pilot in World War II. Due to the subject matter, this book would be more appropriate for middle and high school-aged students. I can't wait to crack it open!
Roald Dahl's story telling abilities shined through as much through his autobiography as through his fiction works. Dahl's narrative of his boyhood intrigued me. I appreciated Dahl's commitment to his writing style. While reading Boy, I couldn't help but make endless connections to his other authored works. Dahl's ruthless headmasters reminded me of none other that the dreadful Ms. Trunchbull of Matilda. And the candy shop of Dahl's walks to primary school pointed to no other book than Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (in fact, Dahl explicitly makes this connection for the reader).
My favorite period of American History is the Colonial and Revolutionary Periods, and when this week came to read a biography, I immediately gravitated towards the children's biographies on George Washington and Ben Franklin. Then, I stopped myself. Surely, not every child in my classroom will pick up a biography on a Revolutionary figure. So I searched a bit further, scanned the shelves at the library, and my eye picked up on a glimmering gold binding of the biography of Chingis Kahn.
Chingis Khan, born along the Onon River in 1160, originally was named Temujin. His father, Yesugei, was the leader of the Great Mongol Clan, which at that time was one of many clans in Mongolia. Demi shares Temujin's prowess at an early age: archery at five, hunting at six, and the responsibility of the tribe at nine due to the death of his father. At this point, the illustrations which previously had great usage of a gold pen, now lack the presence of any gold. For the next several pages, as Temujin struggles to keep his position and his tribe alive, the illustrations are almost monotone. Not until the Blue Sky God responds to Temujin's prayer to become the most powerful tribe leader of all, does the gold return. Demi then describes Temujin's rise to power as the leader of one tribe to become the "Emperor of Heaven" controlling all in Eastern ASia as far as the eye can see.