James and the Giant Peach

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So, a couple of month ago I got gifted a whole box of Roal Dahl's books by somebody who knew very well he was my favourite author when I was a child. So, obviously, I decided to re-read all his books. And the more I read them, the more I become convinced that I don't really like Roald Dahl. I mean, his ideas are bizarre and funny but after a while they just become repetitive. Also, he's mean!! I would sincerely think twice before giving his books to a kid... Usually, if I don't care for a book, I keep schtum about it here. Not only is it not as much fun to talk about books I didn't like, but bad-mouthing other author's books is pretty rude. EP6: Duchess of Cornwall, Lupita Nyong'o & Josh Gad read James & the Giant Peach w/ Taika | #WithMe The plot centres on a young English orphan boy who enters a gigantic, magical peach, and has a wild and surreal cross-world adventure with seven magically altered garden bugs he meets. Dahl was originally going to write about a giant cherry, but changed it to James and the Giant Peach because a peach is "prettier, bigger and squishier than a cherry." [1] [2] Because of the story's occasional macabre and potentially frightening content, it has become a regular target of censors. [3] [4] American novelist Bret Easton Ellis has cited James and the Giant Peach as his favourite children's book:

Other challenges involve repeated use of the word “ass,” which resulted in a 1991 challenge in Altoona, Wisconsin. The following year, a woman in Hernando County, Florida, took issue with Grasshopper’s statement “I’d rather be fried alive and eaten by a Mexican!” as well as references to snuff, tobacco and whiskey. Her complaints to her 10-year-old daughter’s school principal led to a review by the regional school board. Meet James, a young fella who lives with his ugly aunts who are fat and ugly. Did I mention one of them is fat? Yeah, I mean Roal Dhal loves to make fun of big people- also blind people - but I digress. James is walking alone one day when he meets a suspicious individual who suggests he gets some suspicious items he is giving him and eats them; if he does so, magical things will happen. Marvelous things, indeed. Kids, make fun of fat people by creating funny rhymes and get lots of candy from strangers! Magical things will happen if you do so! Like getting inside a giant peach with a bunch of giant bugs who are mean to each other and to everybody else, just as much as the aunts are mean, James is mean, literally everybody is mean. I never read kids books with such horrible messages like Dahl's. The only complaint that some may have about this book is that he uses the word "ass" a few times in it, and even though I was told about it, I was still surprised when I stumbled over their use. Because I was reading this to my son, it wasn't a problem, I just substituted a word for it or skipped over it. If a child is reading the book on their own, well, I'm a big believer that if the adult cares so much, they should be reading the books first and then discussing it with their kids. Much of the great literature that's out there has ideas that are taboo in polite circles or are difficult concepts to explain when looking at human history. But that's what makes them great. And it's much better to educate your child, and do it yourself, before they get misconstrued opinions from the world at large or other teachers. I remember many teachers I had that pushed their opinions, good and bad on students when reading literature. That's a parent's responsibility. As for this book, it was excellent. And I highly recommend it for your first chapter books for your child. I liked the more macabre elements of the story like the oddly sinister Cloud-Men and the “immense grey batlike creature swooping down towards them out of the dark” - Quentin Blake’s drawing really sells them too. The batlike creature is a really weird inclusion as it has no bearing on the plot and is never mentioned again. But that kind of strange detail is partly why you re-read as you notice stuff you didn’t the first time!

Magic beans transforms an ordinary peach into a gigantic piece of fruit and its surrounding insect populace human-sized, before going on to rescue James Henry Trotter from his sad life with his evil aunts, Spiker and Sponge.

When comparing the book to the vague memory of the movie, I am pleased to announce that the peach really was as large as I remembered, the bugs are actually delightfully charming and (at last) I know why the glowy green worms were so important.

There’s no real story - the peach heads to America for no reason - and plot elements were too contrived, even for a kid’s book. James lassoing hundreds of seagulls in no time at all and then them carrying them across the sea - it’s just too easy and unimaginative. There are numerous changes in both the plot of the film and the plot of the book, though the film was generally well received. Felicity Dahl said that, "I think Roald would have been delighted with what they did with James." [17] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly praised the animated part, but calling the live-action segments "crude". [20] It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score (by Randy Newman). EP4: Cara Delevingne, Olivia Wilde & more join Taika Waititi to read James & the Giant Peach #WithMe Reading it again as an adult, my strongest impressions are of just how much FUN this whole adventure is. Roald Dahl manages the perfect blend of whimsical, frightful, exciting, and tender elements. I think that's why his books can be every bit as appealing to adults as they are to children. I'd be laughing one minute at Centipede's songs about Aunts Sponge and Spiker, and grossing out a few minutes later when Centipede tells Earthworm that the Cloud-Men will eat him: "They would cut you up like a salami and eat you in thin slices." There were caves everywhere running into the cloud, and at the entrances to the caves the Cloud-Men's wives were crouching over little stoves with frying-pans in their hands, frying snowballs for their husbands' suppers.

A challenge was brought before the school council in Indian River County, Florida, because of the story’s mystical elements involving magic crocodile tongues which enchanted the peach tree. But the peach…ah, yes…the peach was a soft, stealthy traveler, making no noise as it floated along. And several times during that long silent night ride high up over the middle of the ocean in the moonlight, James and his friends saw things that no one had ever seen before.” Crocodile tongues! One thousand long slimy crocodile tongues boiled up in the skull of a dead witch for twenty days and nights with the eyeballs of a lizard! Add the fingers of a young monkey, the gizzard of a pig, the beak of a green parrot, the juice of a porcupine, and three spoonfuls of sugar. Stew for another week, and then let the moon do the rest!" Forgotten the title or the author of a book? Our BookSleuth is specially designed for you. Visit BookSleuthAfter 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!