Module 8 - James and the Giant Peach

Book
James and the Giant Peach
Written by Roald Dahl, Illustrated by Lane Smith

Citation
Dahl, R. (1996). James and the giant peach. New York: Penguin Group.

Summary
James escapes a horrible childhood with abusive, repulsive aunts by climbing into a magic, giant peach. Already taking up residence in the peach are several insects - Miss Spider, Centipede, Old-Green Grasshopper, Lady Bug, and Earthworm - who rely on him to help them escape their rolling peach adventure. James' intellect saves the peach-dwelling group more than once as they thwart the plans of the Cloud-Men who bring the weather to the world, escape ferocious sharks, and eventually land in New York City. There, the traveling group, although first assumed to be aliens, are warmly received. The group live on to become important, productive citizens of New York City.

Reviews
Horn Book Starred (September, 1996): The text in this new edition remains unchanged, but the book is updated with Smith's black-and-white pencil sketches. His interpretation of the fantasy -- which contemporary young readers will recognize from Disney's film version -- is not quite as magical as Burkert's delightful renderings in the original edition. The new edition will suffice, but readers shouldn't skip the first.

Kirkus Review (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.

Suggested Use
Capitalizing on the Cloud-Men and their creation of weather, I would use the book as a jumping off point for a writing and illustrating activity where students explain, in personification-style, how weather works. As a class, we could combine the stories and illustrations into a book to be housed and cataloged in the school library.

Impression
I have heard of and about James and the Giant Peach for years, especially once the movie came out. I am not, in general, a fan of fantasy fiction and was hesitant to read any of the books on the list under the subheading. However, this book was very engaging. The descriptions of the insects, shark attack, and Cloud-Men are magnificent, helping the reader imagine and play the book in the mind. I would recommend this book to any student 4th grade and up.