James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

Bibliography
Dahl, Roald. 1961/2002. James and the Giant Peach. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Illustrator: Quentin Blake
ISBN: 0-375-81424-8

Summary
After James' parents are killed, he is sent to live with his nasty aunts, Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge. An old man gives James magic crystals to keep James from being miserable for the rest of his life. James' new life begins when he accidentally drops the magic crystals near a peach tree. A giant peach begins to grow on the tree. James crawls inside the peach and finds new friends: grasshopper, ladybug, glow-worm, spider, centipede, silkworm, and earthworm. After they break the peach free from the tree, James and his new friends go on an adventure of a lifetime that brings them to a new world.

Critical Analysis
Throughout the story James and the Giant Peach, Dahl presents subtle cultural markers. The most obvious cultural marker found is in the name of the main character, James Henry Trotter. The name is of English origin.

There are other cultural markers throughout the story, such as the word use of spectacles for glasses and short trousers for shorts.

Some of the comments in the story are cultural markers, too. When the crew on the ship see the huge peach, the captain states "Send a message to the queen." The queen is the head of the country in England. Proper English phrases such as "I do believe," Off with you at once" and "My dear boy" were used throughout the story.

The cultural markers throughout Dahl's story are very slight, probably because much of the language is similar to that of the United States. Dahl's story would be a good tool for comparing the culture in the United States and the culture in England. In the story James and the Giant Peach, Dahl does a fantastic job of making a simple, sweet boy escape the evils of his existing life. Many children will enjoy reading about James and cheering him on while he is having his adventures on the giant peach.

Review Excerpts
School Library Journal states, "Fans of Dahl will not be disappointed in this briskly paced tale that is a delight from beginning to end." (2003)

Amazon.com reports, "Roald Dahl's rich imagery and amusing characters ensure that parents will not tire of reading this classic aloud, which they will no doubt be called to do over and over again!"

Reviews taken from http://www.amazon.com/, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0375814248/sr=8-2/qid=1181853742/ref=dp_proddesc_0/104-3110597-7016730?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books&qid=1181853742&sr=8-2

Connections
After presenting this book to a group of elementary students, they had a variety of comments:
"I loved this book. What else does this author write?" ~Doris
"I was so happy James got to start a new life, his aunts were so mean." ~Jimmy
"I've read James and The BFG. I really liked them both. I can't decide if I'm going to read The Twits or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory next!" ~Gustavo

Other books by Roald Dahl:
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
The Twits
The Witches
The BFG
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Boy
Danny the Champion of the World
Matilda
George's Marvelous Medicine