Tag: book

Going Solo

Sections: Information | Description | Reviews | Fun Stuff | Teacher Ideas | Covers | Bulgarian, Catalan, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Norwegian, Persian, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Thai, and Turkish Covers

Information

Information on identifying editions is from Richard Walker’s “Roald Dahl – A Guide to Collecting His First Editions”.

  • First editions:
    • Jonathan Cape, 1986, UK.
      • 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
  • Buy 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.

Reviews

  • “Young Man, Old Empire, Bad War” by Gahan Wilson from the October 12, 1986 issue of New York Times – New York, USA
  • “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)
  • Student Review by Melanie Burd

Fun Stuff

Sotheby’s Dahl Auction 1997

Teacher Ideas

Covers

Bulgarian Covers – Момчето пораства: приключения в Африка

Catalan Covers – Sol pel món

Czech Covers – Sólový let

Dutch Covers – Solo: 1938-1941

French Covers – Escadrille 80

German Covers – Im Alleingang

Greek Covers – Σόλο πορεία

Italian Covers – In solitario. Diario di volo

Norwegian Covers – På Egne Vinger

Persian Covers – سفر تک نفره

Russian Covers – Полеты в одиночку

Serbian Covers – Samostalni let

Spanish Covers – Volando solo

Thai Covers

Turkish Covers – Tek Başına

Boy and Going Solo

Sections: Information | Description | Fun Stuff | Covers | Dutch and German Covers

Information

Information on identifying editions is from Richard Walker’s “Roald Dahl – A Guide to Collecting His First Editions”.

  • First editions:
    • Jonathan Cape, 1992, UK.
      • To identify: Standard practice statement (‘First published’ followed by the date with no later printings listed underneath), with jacket priced £12.99
  • Buy this book:

Description

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.

Fun Stuff

Boy - Tales of Childhood Trivia Quiz
Boy – Tales of Childhood Trivia Quiz

Sotheby’s Dahl Auction 1997

Covers

Dutch Covers – Autobiografie – Boy en Solo

German Covers – Boy / Im Alleingang

Boy – Tales of Childhood

Sections: Information | Description | Reviews | Awards | Criticism and Analysis | Fun Stuff | Teacher Ideas | Covers | Bulgarian, Catalan, Czech, Estonian, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, and Vietnamese Covers

Information

Information on identifying editions is from Richard Walker’s “Roald Dahl – A Guide to Collecting His First Editions”.

  • First editions:
    • Jonathan Cape, 1984, UK.
      • 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:
  • Buy 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

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!

Reviews

Awards

  • Boston Globe-Horn Books Book Award for Excellence in Children’s Literature (USA 1985)

Criticism and Analysis

Fun Stuff

Boy - Tales of Childhood Trivia Quiz
Boy – Tales of Childhood Trivia Quiz

Sotheby’s Dahl Auction 1997

Teacher Ideas

  • Boy – “Goat’s Tobacco” Activities
    • Includes a number of story analysis exercises pertaining to the “Goat’s Tobacco” incident
  • Boy – Book Review & Activity
    • Fun activity to help improve students’ ability to write with descriptive details that allow the reader to visualize in their head.
  • Boy – The Great Mouse Plot
    • 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.
  • Boy – Unit Lesson Plan
    • Includes unit of instruction for 20 lessons, 5 lesson plans, condensed first lesson, autobiographical scaffold, and comparative question
  • Boy – Vague Pronouns
    • 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.
  • Quick Student Workbooks
    • 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

Bulgarian Covers – Момче

Catalan Covers – El nen

Czech Covers – Kluk

Estonian Covers – Poiss. Lapsepõlvelood

French Covers – Moi, Boy

German Covers – Boy – Schönes und Schrekliches aus meiner Kinderzeit

Japanese Covers – 少年

Korean Covers

Norwegian Covers – Gutt

Russian Covers – Мальчик

Serbian Covers – Dečak: Priče o detinjstvu

Spanish Covers – Boy – Relatos de infancia

Vietnamese Covers – Những ngày xưa yêu dấu