Book cover of Boy: Tales of Childhood

Book description

Boy: Tales of Childhood is the story of Roald Dahl's very own boyhood.

Including takes of sweet-shops and chocolate, mean old ladies and a Great Mouse Plot - the inspiration for some of his most marvellous storybooks in the years to come. These tales are full of exciting and strange…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Boy as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I was heavily influenced by the storytelling and humor in this memoir, as well as the comic and childish cover and illustrations. Although I had a very different upbringing, I wrote in a similar style. Roald Dahl's tales of his own childhood are completely fascinating and fiendishly funny, especially for adults. He tells of crazy conflicts in his English schools with headmasters and teachers, and I had similar experiences. He writes of a visit to a chocolate factory, whereas our town’s factories were not so innocent. The air was filled with the by-products of pesticide, herbicide, plastics, fertilizer, and steel…

From Neill's list on memoirs of childhood and youth.

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Not too many people know about Mary Anning. In 1811, at age 12, Mary lived on the Jurassic Coast where she unearthed a 17-foot fossil.

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