James and the Giant Peach

I have fond memories of this book from childhood, though I couldn't remember anything about it except a boy lived in a giant peach. Someone left a box full of children's books under our Little Free Library. There was no room at the time for all the books, and the weather was inclement, so I brought the box into the garage for when space emptied in the Little Library. In the box there was a whole set of Roald Dahl books seemingly untouched, the spines pristine. I decided to reread them before letting them go. So far, this book has been the best and most charming of the lot. A boy, James, escapes from his atrocious aunts, in a giant peach which grew from some magic stones given him by a strange man. In the peach are some human size show more insects who welcome James to their abode. The peach grows so big, it rolls off the tree, down the hill, off a cliff and onto the ocean. Many adventures follow including sharks, seagulls, cloudmen and the Empire State Building. The ending is a little abrupt, but it is a charming, fun tale for young ones. show less

We went and saw the stage version of James and the Giant Peach and it was Emmett's first play! He chortled through the whole thing--the funny parts, the craaazy parts--and then we got ice cream and looked at the murals in Chemainus and he pooped and it was the nicest day.

And it reminded me what a stone classic (but freestone or clingstone??) this is: the gooey and not a little bit gross amazement of entering the peach-womb for the first time, to be reborn into a better childhood; the giant bugs with their well-articulated personalities and foibles and wisdom, Socratic crackpots and inhuman guides along the path of human maturation and in a lineage stretching back to Baloo and Bagheera and beyond (you have to take up the human burden show more eventually, and that's where the animals have to leave you behind); the absolute facility with which Dahl works on two levels--kids' farce and grown-up farce--with the encounter with the Russians and the final descent into a self-parodizing New York; the absolutely on-key mix of the wondrous (those seagulls! the cloud monsters!) and grotesque (if Emmett only wishes periodically that his parents would be killed by a rhinoceros, I think we'll be doing all right) that I think (however we might try to elbow children into fitting our angel- and devil-narratives as they recur and oscillate over the development of the culture) is basically what childhood is.

You never know what kind of kid you're gonna get, and I'm starting to suspect with Emmett too that every time I think I have a handle on it, that'll be just when he does something new to surprise me; but for whatever my feeling's worth in this case, I feel like this book is about as close to a sure thing children's crowdpleaser as there is. show less

While Roald Dahl was a staple of my childhood, I really don’t remember reading James and the Giant Peach. I do remember the Tim Burton film, however, and that was a childhood staple along with the adaptations of Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. My copy of James and the Giant Peach is not a beloved childhood copy, but an edition I picked up at library book sale when I was in high school and treasured simply because Roald Dahl’s imagination was informative of my childhood reading.

This is all to day – I’m sure I read James and the Giant Peach as a youngling, but I simply don’t remember it.

Revisiting this book as an adult is… interesting. It’s not charming like The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me or mortifyingly bad show more like Fantastic Mr. Fox. This book is a bit longer than both of those and written for slightly older audiences. There’s very little character development, but it retains the weird and fascinating edge of Dahl’s other work. I’d say that James and the Giant Peach is a decent story, but I can see why childhood-me didn’t fall in love with it.

James is given a wonderful, magical gift by a creepy old man and while this plays against all the warnings parents give their kids, James is fictional and the glowing green things are an interesting temptation. He’s an orphan, and his aunts are two stereotypical bullies, so you can’t particularly blame James for ignoring Stranger Danger and accepting a little magic, even when things don’t go according to plan.

At this point in the review, I think I’d just like to offer a blanket statement for any of Roald Dahl’s books. These teach terrible lessons to children. They are magical and delightful, but there’s a who lot of children running away with strangers and eating things they oughtn’t and breaking and entering, etc. If you’re looking for any sort of wholesome children’s story, probably steer clear of Dahl. That said, he had a fantastic imagination.

What follows the initial mishap with the boiled crocodile tongues / glowy green things is a transatlantic journey with unlikely companions. There are always little mishaps to make the journey interesting, and we do get to learn a little about a few of the leveling companions – earthworms and centipedes and grasshoppers in particular. Each bug riding the peach has its little moment, but no character (save maybe the Centipede and the Earthworm) are allowed any real character development… and I include James, our protagonist, in that statement. James and the Giant Peach is more about the journey than the people journeying.

There are moments when characters break into verse as well, so if you enjoy poetry in your children’s chapter books, then you’ll enjoy this as well. For myself, I don’t care for it. In particular, it was used in James and the Giant Peach to review recent situations and served mostly as filler text, which was a bit blah to me. I think that’s the best way for me to illustrate my feelings about this book – it was fine in general, but it wasn’t my favorite of his works and I’m no overly attached to it.

A note particular to my edition – I have a Puffin Classics edition that uses the original art by Nancy Ekholm Burkert. While I can appreciate the skill of an artist, I have to admit that the drawings in this edition are creepy. She doesn’t draw eyes… just black holes, making James appear a bit demonic? I think it would have freaked me out when I was a kid. show less

This was one of my favorite novels as a child. I was captivated by the completely absurd idea of a gigantic peach populated by talking insects traveling across the Atlantic Ocean.

I recently listened to the audio version, read by Roald Dahl, with my young son. It was an abridged version, but just as delightful. I had forgotten all the poetry in the book, and Dahl's reading of it is wonderful, especially when he forces the rhymes just a little bit. This book deserves to be a classic.

Now that my son is a little older, we have read the full version out loud together. I had forgotten about the Cloud-Men! I think I love Roald Dahl so much because he is so irreverent. He breaks the rules of children's book writing and doesn't care. Note to show more squeamish parents: in addition to giant insects, there are also some mild curse words in the text. I feel like Dahl is giving his young readers a sly wink: "Let's see what we can get away with!" show less

I read this as an adult in my quest to fill in the gaps in my education. I liked it. I'm not sure I would have liked it any more as a child. I was actually a bit uptight as a child and I think the aimlessness of the adventure might have bothered me.

I find Dahl's horrible adults a little disturbing. In one sense they are caricature, but they are also very real. There are some awful people in the world and James' aunts could easily be real.

It did make me curious about ticker tape parades. They are a little silly, and seem to have been given a bit randomly. Nimitz and Eisenhower got them, but so did MacArthur (epic jerk) and a couple of professional golfers before pro golf was big. Maybe a kid and some giant bugs would get a parade for show more riding a giant peach across the ocean. show less

Silly, silly, silly....& FUN, FUN, FUN!!!! Orphan James unexpectedly finds himself on a magical adventure relieving him of his dreadful existence with 2 awful aunts and allowing him to start a whole new life. Brilliant little children's book that makes young James the hero.....lots of cleverness ensues, mostly the result of James as he and his unlikely travel mates conquer their fears through teamwork, respect for differences and just plain fun. Dahl is truly unique.....there is always a touch of dark over in the corner....it does not dominate, but it is always there. Totally enjoyed this!

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl is a sweet, fictitious tale of a boy and the adventure he takes to escape his abusive aunts. He is confined to the hellish hill Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker have sucked him into, without a single playmate, toy, or game in sight. He is beaten for minor offenses or traits the ghouls deem offensive; his belly aches and grumbles constantly; and perhaps worst of all, with his parents’ death, he lost every other good thing he had ever known.

Despite his diabolical conditions, James remains hopeful. Past the gates of his imprisonment, he gazes at a soft beach; the one place he can see and remember the feeling of contentment. He dreams of the lions that guard the library down among the city blocks. He show more carries his current circumstances like a package that will one day be dropped off, and he continues to keep his chin up as often as a child possibly can… With the occasional good cry, if he needs one.

One day, a strange man with knowledge akin to the terrifying truth that lies within folklore approaches James and offers him a gift that will forever change his life: a bag of glowing, green worms. The instructions he gives James are detailed and difficult for a child to follow, which is something I find to be quite intentional. James gladly accepts, knowing that this may be the opportunity he has been praying for, and runs off as quickly and quietly as possible.

He drops the bag; the worms wriggle out; down, down, down into the dirt they squirm…

Defeated and distraught, James slumps back to his room, and sleeps fitfully. He awakes to find a peach on a willful tree branch, which had previously refused to treat anyone around it with a tiny blossom. It grows into a heap that his aunts profit off of, but James finds a secret within the house-sized piece of fruit…

James meets giant bugs, each blessed by the lucky worms he had dropped, and travels across the sea beside them, becoming the confident leader he was destined to be. Trials await the company of peach-goers, and incredible actions are needed to overcome them. A boy who feared being locked away forever is released and his true potential is reached.

I highly recommend this book to readers of all ages, and doubly recommend it to those who have decided it is geared to a much younger audience. Everyone can take a bite of wisdom from this masterpiece by Roald Dahl. show less