Book Review

I will be reviewing the book James and the Giant Peach (don't laugh), which by now everyone should know who the author is - Roald Dahl.

James Henry Trotter lost both his parents at the tender age of 4 when they were supposedly eaten by an escaped rhinoceros at the London Zoo, though we know that rhinoceros are herbivorous. Moving on, James was sent to live with his horrible aunts who subjected him to a variety of physical and mental abuse. Three years on, at 7, he meets a strange man who mysteriously knows about his plight and gives him a small sack containing some magic crocodile tongues which he promises will bring James wealth, happiness, and great adventure.

While running to hide the sack, he drops the sack and its contents spill onto the ground and appear to vanish. He is deeply saddened and shocked that what seemed his only way of escape from his aunts had just been lost like that. However, it turns out that the magic tongues had affected a long-barren peach tree, and it grew a lone peach which grew to twice as large as the tree itself. James' aunts take the opportunity to charge visitors to see the peach and when James is locked out of the house to pick out the litter from the amazed crowd, he crawls into the peach and meets a host of giant insects who had also been affected by the magic. With their help he manages to get the peach rolling into the Atlantic Ocean, in the process squashing James' two aunts like pancakes. They ultimately seek to go to New York to start new lives, and are successful despite facing many adversaries and challenges along the way.

If you like any of Roald Dahl's other stories then you'll love this. It's the usual deal with all of Roald Dahl's books - wacky, funny, and most of all are classics. You can also recommend this book to your younger siblings, it might even drive them to eat peach!