Boy

Free printable fun and educational activities for Roald Dahl’s childhood autobiography, Boy!

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Here are some free printable educational activities for Roald Dahl’s book Boy!

Roald Dahl — he’s the guy who wrote books like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, and James and the Giant Peach.

He lived a full life — and many events in his childhood are what inspired some of his most famous books!

He also wrote a couple of autobiographies: Going Solo — about his adult life, and Boy — about his childhood.

Today, I’ll be giving you free educational resources to use to enhance your child reading or listening to his book Boy.

Audiobook Recordings

We love our hard copy of Roald Dahl’s book Boy, but we also adore the audiobook version!

My children listen to this audiobook on their Yoto player.

Don’t have a Yoto player but still interested in the audiobook? You can find the same recording we listen to HERE!

Notes to Parents

A note on this book: While my family loves this audiobook, I highly recommend having the physical book on hand, too. Roald Dahl includes many historical photographs from his childhood in the book that truly bring his story to life! He also includes snippets from letters he handwrote as a child, signed “Boy.” (We own the 2016 edition, I suggest the 2016 edition as the 2023 edition has been censored; I’m not sure if the photographs and letters are included in it, or in older editions for that matter.)

An additional and important note on this book: Parents should understand that this book is based off of the true life events of Roald Dahl’s childhood. This means that events such as a drunk doctor performing medical malpractice, children being beaten by teachers with a cane, young Roald being given the job of “seat warmer” in an unheated icy outhouse, a drinking game he played with his grandparents at 10 years old, and death (including the death of children) are mentioned in this book. Parents should use their discretion as to whether or not this book will be appropriate for their children.

Quiz for Boy

Once your child has listened to or read the book, give them this multiple choice quiz!

Need an answer key? Find it below!

Answers to multiple choice Boy quiz:

1. a) 2
2. b) Sherbet Suckers and Liquorice Bootlaces
3. c) Rats’ blood
4. a) Filthy
5. c) In a jar of gobstoppers
6. b) Boat
7. a) Bestepapa and Bestemama
8. c) A Boat
9. b) Pet frogs
10. a) The ancient sister

Cut and Glue Story Order

Break out the scissors and glue for this hands-on project!

How well does your child remember the order of events in the book Boy?

Cut out the sections at the bottom of the page.

Then, glue each one in the correct order — 1-8.

Need to check your child’s answers?

Use the answer key below!

(Remember that the story order goes left to right, not by column! Check the numbers in the photo above to make sure you aren’t incorrectly grading your child’s work!)

Story Order Answers:

1. Papa falls off the roof. His arm is amputated.
2. Papa marries Roald’s Mama, his second wife. A few years later, there are 6 children in his family.
3. Roald’s sister Astri and his father die within a couple weeks of each other.
4. Mean Mrs. Pratchett, the sweet-shop owner, and the dead mouse
5. Roald receives the cane and his mother removes him from Llandaff Cathedral School
6. Roald and his family are in a car accident
7. Roald starts school at Repton where he has to wear “silly clothes”
8. Roald completes school and gets a traveling job with Shell at age 18.

“All About Me”

In this activity, your child will learn more about what an autobiography is by beginning to write their own!

In this activity, your child will answer some questions about themselves.

This activity will prepare them for the next activities!

They will use their answers to write their very own autobiography!

My Autobiography

Using the questions they answered in the previous activity, your child will spend some time writing an autobiography about their own childhood!

This is such a sweet thing to hang onto and look back at once they’re all grown up!

Book Cover

As a final step to writing their own autobiography, your child will get to draw and color their own book cover!

Let your child think about what they have written in their autobiography.

If they were to make their childhood autobiography into a book just as Roald Dahl did, what would the cover look like?

Ready to print?

You can print this set of activities for FREE below!

The PDF will be instantly sent to your email inbox, ready for you to print!