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Cover of James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

James and the Giant Peach

Roald Dahl

  • 144 pages · about 2 hours
  • First published 1961
  • 166 editions
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1 About this book

James Henry Trotter is four years old when he loses his parents and is sent to live with his two cruel aunts, Spiker and Sponge, in a ramshackle house on top of a hill. One day a strange old man gives him a bag of magic crystals. James trips and spills them by the old peach tree, and a peach at the top of the tree begins to grow until it is as big as a house. Inside it he finds a group of giant talking creatures, among them an Old-Green-Grasshopper, a Ladybug and a boastful Centipede. Then the stem is cut, the peach rolls away down the hill, and their journey begins. Roald Dahl's story was first published in 1961.

  • Fantasy
  • Humor
  • Magic
  • Children
  • Children's
  • Kid's
  • Adolescent
  • Juvenile

2 What to expect

A short children's fantasy: a lonely orphan escapes his cruel aunts inside a giant peach, with a crew of human-sized insects for company. The journey is a string of quick, absurd adventures by land, sea and air, broken up by comic verses. It is funny and inventive, with Dahl's usual streak of the macabre and some grisly comic fates for unpleasant adults, and it reads aloud well.

Good for readers who want: a funny children's adventure, talking insects, and a short book to read aloud.

3 About Roald Dahl

1916–1990

Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British author of popular children's literature and short stories, a poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace. His books have sold more than 300 million copies worldwide. He has been called "one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th century". Dahl was born in Wales to affluent Norwegian immigrant parents, and lived for most of his life in England.

Bio adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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