Coconut's Corner ~ James and the Giant Peach

A little magic can take you a long way...

Roald Dahl was a champion of the underdog and all things little—in this case, an orphaned boy oppressed by two nasty, self-centered aunts. How James escapes his miserable life with the horrible aunts and becomes a hero is a Dahlicious fantasy of the highest order. You will never forget resourceful little James and his new family of magically overgrown insects—a ladybug, a spider, a grasshopper, a glowworm, a silkworm, and the chronic complainer, a centipede with a hundred gorgeous shoes. Their adventures aboard a luscious peach as large as a house take them across the Atlantic Ocean, through waters infested with peach-eating sharks and skies inhabited by malevolent Cloudmen, to a ticker-tape parade in New York City.

This happily ever after contemporary fairy tale is a twentieth-century classic that every child deserves to know. And Lane Smith's endearingly funny illustrations are a perfect match for the text.

James and the Giant Peach is about a boy named James Henry Trotter that loses his parents and he has to go up and live with his horrible aunts! One day his aunts told him to chop wood. There was this guy that appeared and he had a bag full of stuff that was magic and he handed the bag to James. So James took it home and the man said before James started to walk back “If they escape, then they will be working their magic upon somebody else instead of upon you!” As James was walking home he dropped the bag and everything flew out and they went near the tree and then they were gone so quick he couldn’t get them back. A few hours later there was a peach growing nonstop right in front of James and his aunts’ eyes. This is what started James on his journey.

The main characters where James, The Old Green Grasshopper, Miss Ladybug, The Bright Glow Bug, The Spider, The Not Positive Earthworm, and The Centipede. The main characters did take chances on their adventure. They had to use a lot of Miss Spider’s silk and tie up the birds which was a big chance because if she used too much she could run out for a while.

I could really relate to James when his parents died and he was sad. I had my Grandmother die and I was sad so I felt the same way. I don’t know anybody like any of the other characters. If I was in James’ situation I would probably get help.

I really liked this book. My favorite part was when James solved the problem that they were in the water sinking and he got the peach to go up in the air.

I would recommend this book to my friends because I think they would like it. It was really great for my age group but anyone might read it and enjoy it.

A little about Coconut

Coconut is a 5th grader in elementary school.  She likes to write stories, be crafy and she loves music. Last year she entered the North Carolina Young Writers Competition where she won at both her school and county levels with her short story, "Me and Albert Einstein".