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Loading... James and the Giant Peach (edition 1988)by Roald Dahl (Author)I love this book. It follows the story of a young boy named James, who goes through life after losing his parents and finds a place to call home. This book is good to show students that no matter what, there will always be a place where they are loved and never alone. And also the importance of individuality and persistence. I vaguely remember reading this as a kid and I didn't like it much. Reading it again - I still don't like it. It was alright but nothing much happens and there was no real connection to the characters. I just didn't care what happened to any of them. Still, I'm not the target audience. This book was weird though, the language was more sophisticated than most kids books use and it was pretty blunt - I mean the aunts get squished and are left "lifeless". Doesn't particularly seem kid friendly. 1.5 stars. It's readable and I did like the poems. Just not my cup of tea. This was a fun and imaginative adventure! I enjoyed the unusual characters and how they developed distinct, fitting personalities upon growing. It was delightful how they interacted kindly with poor James and were unusually cooperative with each other. I love children's books that not only entrance young readers but capture and keep the attention of adult readers just as effectively. This is one of those books! I started reading this to my daughter at bedtime - even though she's reading books at high school level now (she's 10). She was bored with it about halfway through. We usually donate books we don't love to to our library, so I figured I'd finish it before I donated it. I thought it got a little better as it went, but it's far from Dahl's best. I think my daughter had the right idea. Young James was orphaned at four years-old and sent to live with his horrendous aunts, Sponge and Spiker, who force him to work non-stop around their hilltop house. One day a weird man appears and hands James a bag of magic stuff, telling him that if he dissolves the stuff in water and drinks it, his life will become happy. Too excited and being chased by an aunt, James drops the magic stuff next to the old peach tree that has never produced fruit, but the magic stuff fixes that. The peach tree produces an immense peach, big enough for James to crawl inside and meet the variety of insects who also benefited from the magic stuff, and they were waiting for put-upon James to arrive before using the peach for their great adventure. I am currently reading it to my kindergarten students and our middle school is putting on a performance of the musical. Independent reading grades 1-5 1982 Wins Federation of Children’s Book Groups Award (for The BFG) and Massachusetts Children’s Award (for James and the Giant Peach ). 1983 Wins New York Times Outstanding Books Award, Federation of Children’s Book Groups Award, and Whitbread Award (all for The Witches ). The last time I read this book, I was in elementary school.... so give or take 20 years ago. For Christmas, I got my boys a Roald Dahl collection due to the wonderful memories I had as a kid. Reading this outloud was a wonderful and cherishing experience with my kids. They loved the adventure, the characters, and the giant peach. My oldest (who is seven and thinks that it's against physics for seagulls to fly the peach) begged me to read the last 10 chapters in one go. A great story to read again as an adult. There are a few "ass" spoken from the Centipede, but we all know he a pest. It fits with his character. So keep that in mind if you have qualms of language in children's novels. Once finished, I told them that there was a movie of the novel. The light in their eyes was blindingly bright. Tomorrow, we'll watch the wonderful rendition Tim Burton did of the novel. I'm so excited to start the next book to them: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Young James was orphaned at four years-old and sent to live with his horrendous aunts, Sponge and Spiker, who force him to work non-stop around their hilltop house. One day a weird man appears and hands James a bag of magic stuff, telling him that if he dissolves the stuff in water and drinks it, his life will become happy. Too excited and being chased by an aunt, James drops the magic stuff next to the old peach tree that has never produced fruit, but the magic stuff fixes that. The peach tree produces an immense peach, big enough for James to crawl inside and meet the variety of insects who also benefited from the magic stuff, and they were waiting for put-upon James to arrive before using the peach for their great adventure. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.914Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. Penguin Australia7 editions of this book were published by Penguin Australia. Editions: 0141805927, 0141322632, 014180775X, 0141331267, 0141333189, 0143106341, 0241953308 |