book review of james and the giant peach

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Book Review- James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

I was actually searching for Nancy Drew books at our school library at that time when I came across this book with its funny cover of a boy with insects as big as him. Curious, I forgot about the books I looked for and sat down to read the book all in one sitting. It has become a favorite ever since.

And just recently, when I came across Chalie and the Chocolate Factory , I suddenly got the urge to read it again and revisit the funny adventure that introduced me to the witty, literary genius Roald Dahl.

The book is an easy read, sad at first but downright engaging and past-faced as the chapters roll by.

The protagonist, James Henry Trotter seems to be a very unlucky boy, being orphaned at a young age and living with two mean aunts. James could easily pass as the little boy version of Cinderella what with the ill-treatment he received from his aunts.

But some magic crystals soon changed the boy’s life one day and a giant peach grew out of the tree in their yard.

James somehow ended up inside the giant peach and befriended the talking bugs and insects who were as large as him. And as the peach grew bigger, it snapped off the stem and away, rolled James and his insect friends inside the giant peach, leaving his two mean aunts flattened as the peach roll down their yard. I could say Roald Dahl is so good at giving punishments to bad characters in his stories and he really didn’t fail me in this one. I’m mean all right, but they are just so mean to poor little James that I can’t help it.

As the peach rolled away, James and his new-found friends quickly found themselves in a rather unpredictable journey and series of adventures.

May it be on sea or above in the air, through crazy shark escapades, learning about the weather, and being deemed as intruders from outer space in New York, the diverse crew of the giant peach, buckle down readers to join their wildly entertaining adventures.

Throughout their journey, James soon distinguished himself as a clever boy and an able leader to his fellow voyagers which they openly admired. It is quite fun to follow their adventures and one just can’t put the book down until the end. Readers will surely want to finish the book to know how their journey ended and the ending wouldn’t surely disappoint those who believe James deserve his very own safe place in the world.

Just as how concerned the readers will be for our little hero, they will also be wondering what will happen to his friends. And indeed, this book will really make you nod and smile to see how they are aptly given their happy endings.

I absolutely recommend this book to be read to or by children. It has the elements of a delightful adventure, original characters, an ingenious plot and off-beat narration that will surely tickle the minds of your little ones.

Quite an imaginative tale, this book is not one to disappoint readers.

Rating: 5/5 stars

Author: roald dahl, age level: 9+.

• ← Book Review- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
• Book Review- The Magician’s Nephew (The Chronicles of Narnia Book #1 Chronological Order) by C. S. Lewis →

4 thoughts on “ Book Review- James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl ”

Thanks for this book review. 🙂

Now my mind itches with the thought of having the book and know what the ending was and what happened to James and his friends on their adventures. Thanks!

It’s great that you enjoyed the review. I’m sure you’ll enjoy the book! 🙂

Yeah! Will check that soon and I would want my daughter, Yumi, have the book be read to her by her mother. 🙂 Thanks!

Aww, that is so sweet. 🙂

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JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH

by Roald Dahl & illustrated by Lane Smith ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1996

This newly illustrated edition of an avowed children's favorite has all the makings of a classic match-up: Milne had Shepard, Carroll had Tenniel, and now Dahl has Smith. Yes, there is a movie tied in to all of this, but more importantly, author and illustrator were made for each other, and it's of little consequence that it took almost 35 years for them to meet. (Fiction. 6-12)

Pub Date: April 1, 1996

ISBN: 0-679-88090-9

Page Count: 126

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1996

CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY

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by Dav Pilkey & illustrated by Dav Pilkey ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 28, 2012

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Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.

Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders…

Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012

ISBN: 978-0-545-17534-0

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Publisher: Scholastic

Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012

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James And The Giant Peach | Roald Dahl | Book Review

I like to start off my participation in every Dewey 24 Hour Readathon by reading a  Roald Dahl book. My first book for the April 2013 Readathon was  James And The Giant Peach . Of course, because I am lazy as heck, I’ve waited until September to review this whimsical, awesome book that was one of my childhood favorites. Also? Remember the movie? That was so awesome and I think I need to revisit it like right now and you know put my review off for even LONGER! Anyways, first things first, I totally read  James In The Giant Peach in under an hour because I am a bit of a super reader AND because it’s fast pacing and interesting and one of my favorites.

The plot of  James And The Giant Peach is one that I totally remember months after reading, heck even years after reading this for the first time. Basically James lives with the meanest aunts ever, because his parents died when he was very, very young. One day, he obtains some magical crystals, I think, and accidentally spills them on this peach tree. From there, a peach grows to be the biggest ever seen. His awful Aunts Spiker and Aunt Sponge decide to charge admission to people wanting to see the peach and let James see none of the profits. THEN James ends up crawling inside of the peach, meets some human sized bugs and is rolling off into the horizon to better days. And really, that’s the story, well plus his journey with the peach.

Obviously I loved James Henry Trotter. He’s a plucky orphan, what is not to love. I also LOLed at the mean aunts because I am an awful human being. There was one bug that I found super annoying, the centipede. He’s selfish and a total jerk. Ugh. I am just annoyed thinking about it. OHHHHHH and there are some seagulls in the adventure and of course they were my favorite part of the whole book, you’ll see when you read it or remember it.

James And The Giant Peach by Roald Dahl is a fun, short adventure about an orphan who overcomes terrible circumstances with the help of magic and some bugs that actually are not scary. If you’ve got a small child in your life, I highly recommend you read this one to them. Also! I am just going to put out there that my version did not have Quentin Blake illustrations which is a bit of a disappointment, I need to get an edition that has his illustrations. Seriously, Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake are a match made in heaven and it’s just weird reading a version that doesn’t have the Blake illustrations, even if the illustrations were perfectly nice in my version.

Disclosure: Purchased Copy.

Other reviews of James And The Giant Peach by Roald Dahl:

A Reader Of Fictions – “ he has imagination and humor like no other ”

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April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.

I can’t remember if I’ve ever read this book or only seen the movie… XD Either way, the story’s good!

I absolutely adore the work of Roald Dahl, so I was extremely excited when I saw your review today 😀 I’ve read The Witches more times than I can count, and while James and the Giant Peach isn’t one of my personal favourites, I never fail to marvel at Dahl’s seemingly endless creativity. As you mentioned, it’s nearly impossible to forget his novels months or even years after you’ve read them because Dahl’s concepts are alway so outlandish and ingenuously bizarre. I also appreciate that they’re a little darker than middle grade fiction traditionally tends to be. I like stories with a little bit of bite, and you never feel as though Dahl was ‘dumbing down’ his concepts simply because he was writing for a younger target audience, which I appreciate immensely.

This was a wonderful review, April, and you made me want to dust off all of my Dahl novels and re-read them immediately. I would pretend to be angry if I weren’t so excited and inspired 😛

I got all nervous for a sec that I had missed the Dewey readathon this year-I thought it was in October and I really want to participate in one as I’ve been blogging for almost 4 years without doing so. But then you shared that this was from April. I like your idea of starting with a Dahl book and may borrow that idea for my own experience.

I remember loving this book as a kid and reading it often. Most of the plot escapes me now though. Can’t believe it was ever a banned books.

Yeah, the Centipede! That guy’s such a jerk, but at least he knows he’s a jerk. Meanwhile this book left a permanent mark on me in that I find it very very difficult to kill spiders. I always think of James’s song about spiders and how helpful and good they are.

(Centipedes no. I killed a centipede the other day and I felt horror at its grossness but zero remorse.)

Hmmm, I did not like this one as much as an adult. SAD DAY. Probably I should have let it remain there. I always want to revisit, but sometimes I end up ruining books for myself. Like The Giver and Madaleine L’engle.

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Book Review: “James and the Giant Peach” by Roald Dahl

James and the giant peach by roald dahl.

Before there was a  claymation movie  under this title, there was this book. And a fine book it is, though perhaps darker than some of Dahl’s children’s stories.

As the story begins, James is in a fix that should feel familiar for anyone who has sympathized with Harry Potter’s plight. James is a happy little boy until his parents are killed in a truly outrageous accident (you have to read it to believe it). James is sent to live with his evil aunts, bony Aunt Spiker and tubby Aunt Sponge. This pair makes the Dursleys look like a good-natured family that only practices a little “tough love.” They are truly hideous. And for three years, they grind James down with beatings, forced labor, constant criticism, deprivation, loneliness, and despair, until he is a very sad little boy.

Then, lo and behold, a strange little man gives James a paper bag full of magic crystals which, the man says, James must stir into water and drink if he wants to have wonderful things happen to him. In his excitement, James trips and spills the crystals on the roots of a withered old peach tree. Overnight a peach the size of a house grows, and before you can say Peach Cobbler, the peach has broken loose, crushed the horrid Aunts to death, and carried James away on a magical journey.

Through sea and sky, James is swept by a combination of cleverness, courage, and fairy-tale gags. And on the good ship (or airship) Peach, he makes the acquaintance of a group of giant-sized, talking, clothes-wearing bugs-the Old-Green-Grasshopper, Miss Spider, Miss Ladybug, Miss Silkworm, the Earthworm, the Glowworm, and the ne’er-do-well Centipede, who is constantly worrying about his forty-two pairs of boots. Together they see how the weather is made, they escape from sharks, and they scare the daylights out of the good people of New York City.

Fans of the Dahl stories will be delighted by cameo appearances by the snozzwanger, the whangdoodle, and (my favorite) the vermicious Knid. And fans of a certain boy wizard will be slightly startled to learn the full name of our hero: James Henry Trotter.

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Book Review – James and the Giant Peach

By ochippie

Author: Roald Dahl

Since receiving a Roald Dahl box set of books as a gift, my family & I have been enjoying reading these classic novels together, and I have enjoyed revisiting stories I read & loved so many years ago.  Dahl wrote with such whimsy, combined with a darkness that’s always present, but with happy endings that make for fantastic fantasies.  Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Fantastic Mr. Fox are two we’ve read recently, and both are great stories made into good movies.  Here’s another in James and the Giant Peach , a book with a sad element, an adventure unlike any other, and ultimately a pleasant finish that captures the imaginations of adults & children alike.

James is a lonely little boy, a lad whose parents died in a tragic accident, and who now lives with his terribly unpleasant aunts on a hill above a village.  They treat him horribly, he never gets to play with anyone, and hasn’t left the hill is so very long.  What he needs is a little magic to help him out, and that’s just what he gets.  A strange man gives James mysterious crystals that, when spilled in the garden, create marvelous results.  A peach from the garden’s peach tree grows to an enormous size, and when James ventures into a tunnel in its side, he discovers that creatures are living inside the peach pit.  And what’s more, they are waiting on him to begin a journey, to leave the hill & to explore the world, all from within one giant peach.

What an incredibly entertaining story with more magic than you can imagine.  It starts off with the colossal peach, and that’s strange enough, but the creatures inside add an extra element of fantasy that carried the book through to the end.  And then there’s the journey itself, the strange things the group sees along the way, the trouble they get into & out of.  It’s a great book, one that’s fun to read, excellent to imagine, and always exciting.  And the happiness is offset by a bit of morbidity, what with the abusive aunts, the grumpy creatures, the chance of death while traversing the world in a giant fruit.  It’s a well-rounded story (no pun intended) if ever there was one, making for a fun read, but with a base of literary talent to support the preposterous plot.  Read James to your kids over the course of some evenings or to yourself in two or three sittings; you’ll have a great time either way.

My rating: ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Writer, Critic, Dad Columbus, Ohio, USA Denver Broncos, St. Louis Cardinals Colorado Avalanche, Duke Blue Devils

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Spaghetti Book Club - Book Reviews by Kids for Kids

James and the giant peach.

Written by Roald Dahl

Illustrated by Quinton Blake

Reviewed by Matthew B. (age 8)

James and the Giant Peach written by Roald Dahl was an excellent book. James moved in with aunts after his parents were eaten by a rhino. James's aunts, Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker, treated him very badly. One day James met a strange old man who gave some magic crystals. When James dropped them on the ground a peach on the old peach tree suddenly grew into mammoth size. The peach was the size of a house! Inside the peach, James met Centipede, Grasshoper, Earthworm, Glow-worm, Ladybug, Silkworm, and Miss Spider. James and his new friends went on a great adventure across the Atlantic Ocean. Will James ever be free from his aunts? Read to find out.

James and the Giant Peach was an out of this world book. One reason was because it had a great problem to solve. The aunts made James chop wood for the kitchen stove outside in the summer heat all day. Also the aunts called him names and said they would beat him up. All he wanted to do was to get away from his aunts! Another thing that was great about this book the introduction to a strange person. The strange person wore a crazy dark green suit. He was a small man with a huge bald head. The old man gave James magic green crystals because some how he knew he was miserable. Also it has interesting characters. One of them only had 49 legs, the insects were wearing clothes, and they could talk. They were oversized and they were as tall as James. As you can see, this book was trully a great book because it has interesting characters, a strange person, and it has a great solution to a great problem.

I recommend this book to people who like fanticy mixed with adventure. You will read a lot about how James and his friends travel across the Atlantic Ocean with seagulls tied to the stem of the peach. They also go to the North Pole, and last but not least they traveled from England to New York City. I loved reading this book and you will too! Watch out you will be laughing your heads off!

James and the Giant Peach

Buy from other retailers, what's this book about.

From the bestselling author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The BFG! After James Henry Trotter’s parents are tragically eaten by a rhinoceros, he goes to live with his two horrible aunts, Spiker and Sponge. Life there is no fun, until James accidentally drops some magic crystals by the old peach tree and strange things start to happen. The peach at the top of the tree begins to grow, and before long it’s as big as a house. Inside, James meets a bunch of oversized friends—Grasshopper, Centipede, Ladybug, and more. With a snip of the stem, the peach starts rolling away, and the great adventure begins!

What Kind of Book is .css-1msjh1x{font-style:italic;} James and the Giant Peach

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The Creatives Behind the Book

Roald Dahl (1916-1990) was born in Wales of Norwegian parents. He spent his childhood in England and, at age eighteen, went to work for the Shell Oil Company in Africa. When World War II broke out, he joined the Royal Air Force and became a fighter pilot. At the age of twenty-six he moved to Washington, D.C., and it was there he began to write. His first short story, which recounted his adventures in the war, was bought by The Saturday Evening Post, and so began a long and illustrious career. After establishing himself as a writer for adults, Roald Dahl began writing children’s stories in 1960 while living in England with his family. His first stories were written as entertainment for his own children, to whom many of his books are dedicated. Roald Dahl is now considered one of the most beloved storytellers of our time. Although he passed away in 1990, his popularity continues to increase as his fantastic novels, including James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, The BFG, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, delight an ever-growing legion of fans. Learn more about Roald Dahl on the official Roald Dahl Web site: www.roalddahl.com

Sir Quentin Blake, the first-ever Children’s Laureate of the United Kingdom, has illustrated nearly 300 books, including most of Roald Dahl’s children’s books. He lives in London.

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James and the Giant Peach review – a soft landing in the Big Apple

Northern Stage, Newcastle Mark Calvert’s charming revival robs Roald Dahl’s story of its dramatic climax but makes up for it with a swinging score and plenty of New York sass

I f you had to pick a single image to encapsulate the scope of Roald Dahl’s imagination, it might be that of an enormous peach inhabited by giant insects plunging from the sky and becoming impaled on the Empire State Building . Oddly, this is the one detail that David Wood – generally the most faithful of Dahl adaptors – chooses to omit; though his version first appeared in 2001, shortly after the 9/11 attacks, and therefore not the most auspicious time for a children’s show depicting scenes of panic on the streets of New York.

Mark Calvert’s revival maintains the tactful approach to James’s touchdown in America; though there’s no question that a soft landing in Central Park robs the story of its natural climax. But the production compensates by generating so much New York City sass you can practically smell the steam rising from the sidewalk. A great deal of this is down to the infectious swing generated by Jeremy Bradfield’s score, performed by a seriously hot ensemble of insect-musicians within a glitzy setting by Rhys Jarman that evokes the art deco splendour of Radio City Music Hall . Indeed, the peach is so huge it bursts through to the adjacent theatre, as Northern Stage has conjoined its two auditoriums to accommodate it.

Calvert’s production doesn’t entirely sidestep the morbid aspects of Dahl’s imagination – the remarkably dark episode in which James’s parents are mown down in the high street by an escaped rhinoceros is sinisterly evoked by a cluster of shoppers’ umbrellas. But for all its charm, the show invariably loses some momentum in the attempt to avert Peach-mageddon.

• Children's theatre
• Northern Stage

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James and the Giant Peach

Sections: Information | Description | Reviews | Awards | Criticism and Analysis |  Fun Stuff   | Teacher Ideas | Covers | Afrikaans , Bulgarian , Catalan , Chinese , Czech , Danish , Dutch , Estonian , French , German , Greek , Korean , Lithuanian , Norwegian , Polish ,  Russian , Serbian , Slovakian , Spanish , Turkish , Vietnamese , and Welsh Covers

Information

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

• Illustrated by: Nancy Ekholm Burkert
• To identify: Five-line colophon found on the last printed page that includes the statements: Bound by H. Wolff Co. (later printings were bound by the Book Press) and underneath this: Paper supplied by P.H. Glatfelter, Spring Grove Pennsylvania. The boards are a deep red/maroon and the head is stained a peach/yellow color. The dust jacket is priced at $3.95 and does not have any SBN numbers on the right bottom of the rear panel. Note: there are more intricacies here which can be found on Richard’s site …
• Illustrated by: Michel Simeon
• To identify: Used a standard single statement (‘First published in Great Britain in’ followed by the date, no later dates or printing statements) and was published without pricing and no dust jacket.
• Illustrated by: Emma Chichester Clark
• To identify: After original publishing listing and twelfth print, a standard © statement for Clark illustrations 1990 was used. Published with a dust jacket priced at £8.95.
• Illustrated by: Quentin Blake
• To identify: Used a number line and was published with a jacket that was either not priced and without a Viking logo on the spine or a jacket with the logo on the spine and priced at £9.99.
• Illustrated by: Lane Smith
• To identify: Used number line and published with a jacket priced at $16.00
• To identify: Used a number line and published with a jacket but without a price.
• Challenged at the Deep Creek Elementary School in Charlotte Harbor, Fla. (1991) because it is “not appropriate reading material for young children.”
• Challenged at the Pederson Elementary School in Altoona, Wis. (1991) and at the Morton Elementary School library in Brooksville, Fla. (1992) because the book contains the word “ass” and “promotes” the use of drugs (tobacco, snuff) and whiskey.
• Removed from classrooms in Stafford County, Va. Schools (1995) and placed in restricted access in the library because the story contains crude language and encourages children to disobey their parents and other adults.
• James and the Giant Peach, with Taika and Friends - June 21, 2020
• Lego Roald Dahl Characters in UK - September 10, 2017
• ‘BFG’ to ‘Matilda’: How Roald Dahl Books Became Big Movies | Variety - June 30, 2016
• More news…
• “‘I look and smell,’ Aunt Sponge declared…”
• “We may see a Creature with forty-nine heads…”
• “I’ve eaten many strange and scrumptious dishes in my time…”
• “Aunt Sponge was terrifically fat…”
• “Aunt Spiker was thin as a wire…”
• “Once upon a time…”
• “Down they go…”
• “Oh, hooray for the storm and the rain…”
• “My friends, this is the Centipede, and let me make it known…”
• Hey! Listen to This – Stories to Read Aloud
• It’s Heaven to be Seven
• James’s Giant Bug Book
• Roald Dahl 15 Book Box Set
• Roald Dahl Collection
• Roald Dahl’s Glorious Galumptious Story Collection
• Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach Sticker Activity Book
• Roald Dahl’s Scrumdiddlyumptious Sticker Book
• The Marvellous Roald Dahl Library
• The Puffin Roald Dahl Collection 2
• The Roald Dahl Centenary Boxed Set
• The Roald Dahl Collection
• James and the Giant Peach (1996)
• James and the Giant Peach adapted by David Wood
• James and the Giant Peach: A Play adapted by Richard R. George
• 2 Favourite Stories read by Roald Dahl
• 4 Favourite Stories read by Roald Dahl
• 5 Favourite Stories read by Roald Dahl
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Four More Stories read by Roald Dahl
• James and the Giant Peach read by Jeremy Irons
• James and the Giant Peach read by Julian Rhind-Tutt
• James and the Giant Peach read by unknown
• James and the Giant Peach read by Andrew Sachs
• James and the Giant Peach read by full cast
• James and the Giant Peach read by Roald Dahl
• James et la Grosse Pêche read by Claude Villers, Geneviève Lezy, Henri Marteau, Christine Martin, Sophie Wright
• James und der Riesenpfirsich read by Rufus Beck
• Roald Dahl Audio Books read by David Walliams, Stephen Fry, Kate Winslet, Chris O'Dowd, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Peter Serafinowicz, Miranda Richardson, Richard Ayoade, Douglas Hodge
• Roald Dahl Audio Books (10 CD Collection) read by Simon Callow, Miriam Margolyes, Geoffrey Palmer, James Bolam, Andrew Sachs, June Whitfield, Timothy West, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Martin Jarvis
• The Roald Dahl Audio Collection read by Roald Dahl
• The Roald Dahl Soundbook read by Roald Dahl
• Jackanory (1965)

Description

A little magic can take you a long way.

After James Henry Trotter’s parents are tragically eaten by a rhinoceros, he goes to live with his two horrible aunts, Spiker and Sponge. Life there is no fun, until James accidentally drops some magic crystals by the old peach tree and strange things start to happen. The peach at the top of the tree begins to grow, and before long it’s as big as a house. Inside, James meets a bunch of oversized friends—Grasshopper, Centipede, Ladybug, and more. With a snip of the stem, the peach starts rolling away, and the great adventure begins!

• “Books for Young People” by Alice Dalgliesh ( The Saturday Review )
• “The Wonderful World of Dahl” by Sean Kelly ( New York Times ) – review of movie tie-in book
• Massachusetts Children’s Award (USA 1982)

Criticism and Analysis

• Article by Eve Tal published in Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts
• Essay by James M. Curtis published in Children’s Literature Association Quarterly

• First edition illustrations
• BBC Radio “Listening and Reading” Editions from the 1970’s
• Escape the Sharks! – online Flash game created by me
• Original cartoon illustrations by artist Liz Manicatide
• “James and the Giant Peach, with Taika and Friends” – 10 episode YouTube series read by Taika Waititi and friends

Merchandise

Sotheby’s Dahl Auction

• Custom binding by artist Erin Fletcher 
• Book-A-Minute Bedtime Story  

Teacher Ideas

• PDF with activities exploring metaphors and similes
• Classroom activities related to the book
• Excellent guide with vocabulary words, questions, and lots of activities
• Comprehensive lesson plan with unit plan, diagrams, and vocabulary tests
• Bring a world of giant peaches and talking insects to life in your classroom with these brilliant beyond belief YPO lesson plans.
• PDF preview of Novel Study including everything you need to teach the novel (full version available for purchase on novelstudies.org)
• Includes some peach-related ideas for teaching the book
• Includes summary, discussion questions, activities, and recipe
• Includes several good ideas for enrichment activities, a list of Internet links, and a Dahl bibliography
• Activity where students write their own large-object-rolling-through-something paragraph.
• Designed to get students thinking critically about the text they read and provide a guided study format to facilitate in improved learning and retention

Afrikaans Covers – James en die reuseperske

Catalan Covers – James i el préssec gegant

Chinese Covers

Czech Covers – Jakub a obří broskev

Danish Covers – James og den store fersken

Dutch Covers – Beesten aan boord; De reuzenperzik

Estonian Covers – James ja hiigelvirsik

French Covers – James et la grosse pêche

German Covers – James und der Riesenpfirsich

Greek Covers – Ο ΤΖΙΜΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΤΟ ΓΙΓΑΝΤΟΡΟΔΑΚΙΝΟ

Korean Covers – 제임스와 슈퍼 복숭아 양장본

Lithuanian Covers – Džeimsas ir milžiniškas persikas

Norwegian Covers – Verdens Største Fersken

Polish Covers – James i ogromna brzoskwinia

Serbian Covers – Džejms i džinovska breskva

Slovakian Covers – Jakub a obrovská broskyňa

Spanish Covers – James y el melocotón gigante

Turkish Covers – Dev Şeftali

Vietnamese Covers – James Và Quả Đào Khổng Lồ

Welsh Covers – James A’r Eirinen Wlanog Enfawr

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Review: James and the Giant Peach

May 13, 2017 by Jaila L Leave a Comment

This time around, we read the book James and the Giant Peach written by Roald Dahl who is an English author. In this book we find that the main character, James, was once a happy boy who lived with his family near the beach. He was an extremely content and joyful little boy. In the next chapter, the audience soon finds out that both of his loving parents died a strange death by a rhinoceros, thus leading to James living with his horrible aunts. He then is discovered by a strange man who offers James a bag filled with magical beings that ultimately changes James’ life forever.

At this point we are introduced to the giant peach and the creatures living within it. James spends the night with these creatures. Suddenly, he is awakened by the peach shifting and breaking off of its branch. As this is happening, James’ aunts are crushed and killed by the peach as it rolls away. This is when the journey of the creatures and James begins.

Throughout the story, James gets the feeling of belonging from the creatures. He is trusted and treated as an individual of intelligence. Along with that, he learns to care enough to ask about the creatures’ backstories and lives. This ultimately teaches a person to genuinely care about others among yourself. Also, it shows that sometimes what others deem as “ridiculous” or “peculiar,” others see as wonderful and amazing.

About Jaila L

A Dual Enrolled Senior attending Sandy Creek High School and Georgia Military College

Passions: Two things I cannot live without would be diversity and family. I have family with many different backgrounds, so I appreciate and love different cultures and what all they have to offer as learning experiences.

Favorite Pastime: Working. There is always something to do and something to learn so I'll either be at athletic training or studying something in my healthcare class that I found very interesting.

Proudest Moment: Definitely my extracurricular activities. Through my hard work and opportunities I have been exposed to, I have experienced working as an intern, being a part of community-based clubs, and working at a job that is in the same field I wish to have a career in.

Favorite Book: The Girl Who Could Fly

Pet Peeve: When someone does not back up their words with actions.

Life Goal: I want to be an orthopedic surgeon with a focus on Sports Medicine.

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Look Inside

James and the Giant Peach

By roald dahl illustrated by lane smith, category: children's middle grade action & adventure.

Apr 01, 1996 | ISBN 9780140374247 | 5-1/16 x 7-3/4 --> | Middle Grade (8-12) | ISBN 9780140374247 --> Buy

Buy from Other Retailers:

Apr 01, 1996 | ISBN 9780140374247 | Middle Grade (8-12)

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• Barnes & Noble
• Books A Million
• Powell’s

About James and the Giant Peach

From the bestselling author of  Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The BFG !  Roald Dahl was a champion of the underdog and all things little—in this case, an orphaned boy oppressed by two nasty, self-centered aunts. How James escapes his miserable life with the horrible aunts and becomes a hero is a Dahlicious fantasy of the highest order. You will never forget resourceful little James and his new family of magically overgrown insects—a ladybug, a spider, a grasshopper, a glowworm, a silkworm, and the chronic complainer, a centipede with a hundred gorgeous shoes. Their adventures aboard a luscious peach as large as a house take them across the Atlantic Ocean, through waters infested with peach-eating sharks and skies inhabited by malevolent Cloudmen, to a ticker-tape parade in New York City. This happily ever after contemporary fairy tale is a twentieth-century classic that every child deserves to know. And Lane Smith’s endearingly funny illustrations are a perfect match for the text. “All the gruesome imagery of old-fashioned fairy tales and a good measure of their breathtaking delight.” — Kirkus Reviews “A stunning book, to be cherished for its story, a superb fantasy.” — The Chicago Tribune “The most original fantasy that has been published in a long time…[it] may well become a classic.” — San Francisco Chronicle

Also by Roald Dahl

About Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl (1916–1990) was born in Llandaff, South Wales, and went to Repton School in England. His parents were Norwegian, so holidays were spent in Norway. As he explains in Boy, he turned down the idea of university in favor of a… More about Roald Dahl

About Lane Smith

Lane Smith is a five-time recipient of the New York Times Best Illustrated Book award and a two-time Caldecott Honor recipient. In 2012 the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art named him a Carle Artist for “lifelong innovation in… More about Lane Smith

Product Details

Category: children’s middle grade action & adventure, you may also like.

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“This newly-illustrated edition of an avowed children’s favorite has all the makings of a classic match-up: Milne had Shepard, Carroll had Tenniel, and now Dahl has Smith…author and illustrator were made for each other, and it’s of little consequence that it took almost 35 years for them to meet” — Kirkus .

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Follow the author

James and the Giant Peach Hardcover – January 1, 1961

• Part of series Roald Dahl
• Print length 119 pages
• Language English
• Grade level 3 - 7
• Lexile measure 0870
• Dimensions 0.5 x 6.5 x 9.5 inches
• Publisher Knopf
• Publication date January 1, 1961
• ISBN-10 0394812824
• ISBN-13 978-0394812823
• See all details

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Editorial Reviews

Product details.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Knopf (January 1, 1961)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 119 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0394812824
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0394812823
• Reading age ‏ : ‎ 5 - 9 years, from customers
• Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 0870
• Grade level ‏ : ‎ 3 - 7
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 0.5 x 6.5 x 9.5 inches
• #13,234 in Children's Classics
• #48,158 in Children's Action & Adventure Books (Books)

About the author

The son of Norwegian parents, Roald Dahl was born in Wales in 1916 and educated at Repton. He was a fighter pilot for the RAF during World War Two, and it was while writing about his experiences during this time that he started his career as an author.

His fabulously popular children's books are read by children all over the world. Some of his better-known works include James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Fantastic Mr Fox, Matilda, The Witches, and The BFG.

He died in November 1990.

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James And The Giant Peach

By roald dahl.

• ★ ★ ★ ★ 3.93 ·
• 112 Ratings
• 865 Want to read
• 80 Currently reading
• 170 Have read

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Buy this book

Roald Dahl's first and most widely celebrated book for young people continues to thrill readers around the world.

When James accidentally drops some magic crystals by the old peach tree, strange things start to happen. The peach at the top of the tree begins to grow, and before long it's as big as a house. When James discovers a secret entrance-way into the fruit and crawls inside, he meets wonderful new friends--the Old-Green-Grasshopper, the dainty Ladybug, and the Centipede of the multiple boots. After years of feeling like an outsider in his aunts' house, James finally found a place where he belongs. With a snip of the stem, the peach household starts rolling away--and the adventure begins!

"This is a stunning book to be cherished for its story, a superb fantasy." --Chicago Tribune

"A beautifully written, fantastic book." --Christian Science Monitor

Previews available in: English Welsh German

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• Created April 29, 2008
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