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Jun 23, 2010

Chandra rated it:

I really only read this because a book banner told me not to. She told me that the aunts were too mean and that (brace yourself) the word ASS makes an appearance. Because of all this unseemliness, she explained, she tried (unsuccessfully) to get it removed from our school library’s shelves. Up to now I haven’t been much of a Roald Dahl fan, but with that glowing recommendation I really couldn’t pass it up. It would have been a little tragic if it had turned out to be a dud, but thankfully i More...

17 comments like (27 people liked it)

Aug 04, 2008

Muna rated it:

When I was in third grade, the first great crush of my life, Scott Murphy, stood up on the picnic table outside of the trailer that housed my third grade class and instead of reading his lines -- James' words -- from his paperback copy while we were all trying to rehearse the chapter we were supposed to present to the entire class the next day, he performed the most passionate version of "Paradise City" by Guns N Roses that I have ever seen.

To this day, I love Gun N Roses, More...

1 comment like (16 people liked it)

Aug 24, 2007

Amy rated it:

A funny, dark and poetic book. I read this after seeing a documentary about Roald Dahls' life and hearing some of the book's passages narrated within the perspective of his time cramped up in a WWII bomber plane as a bombardier (he was very tall). The peach represents the polar opposite of being in a noisy and clattering war plane, manning a gun and always under the threat of death. The peach is a peaceful, sweet and quiet flying machine.

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Jan 21, 2012

Lou rated it:

Dahl's imagination and writing skill is masterful. He transports many of us to wonderful fun worlds of adventure and peculiarity with characters that every child would love to meet. A conjurer of great bedtime stories and memories of being young and learning to read those first books.
He must be thee most famous writer. This tale of a boy escaping two bad ladies into a world of make believe via a giant peach is full of fun and thrilling moments. His writing so well done, the grammar at time More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

May 27, 2011

Jeanette rated it:

I've never visited Central Park, but if I ever do, I'll be watching for the giant peach pit where James Henry Trotter settled happily after his wild excursion.

I knew I liked this book as a kid but I couldn't remember the details of the story. The thing that stayed in my mind all these years was the feeling of claustrophobia when James makes his way inside the peach and finds all the giant, friendly creepy-crawlies inside the peach pit. As a kid you always place yourself within the s More...

2 comments like (4 people liked it)

Dec 13, 2007

Andrea rated it:

I grew up with a swelling admiration for Roald Dahl. I read everything and anything he would write until I was quoting text word for word. James and the Giant Peach was the one I treasured the most. I lived through the so lovely and ever innocent James as I did with almost every other adorable character Dahl went on to create.

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Nov 03, 2008

David rated it:

This book was a highlight of my childhood, I remember it fondly and I look forward to reading it to my kids. Great imagery, great rhythm, great story for anyone who has ever felt lonely and wanted to escape to somewhere magical and wonderful. A giant peach is as good as any place. Highly recommended.

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Dec 28, 2008

Justine rated it:

In the Pantheon that is Roald Dahl, I find that James and the Giant Peach gets the shaft. I don't think I've ever heard anyone mention it as their favorite, but after this most recent read, I've decided that Dahl's Odyssey includes some of the best parts of his writing. It is eerily bizarre, wonderfully imaginative, and filled with imagery that I still remember from the first time I read it.

Tips Of My Hat:
~James is a cool-ass kid. The poverty/orphan combo that Dahl uses to pla More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Nov 19, 2008

Lucy rated it:

I shouldn't be allowed to read classic children's literature. My brain simply doesn't appreciate its intended purpose - creativity, imagination, fantasy. Instead, I wonder, "What's the point here?" Sometimes, there is a point, but I think with Ronald Dahl, the focus is placed on the magic and if there happens to be a story in there somewhere in it..so be it.

I borrowed it from the library because it was on the most-commonly-banned-books-in-America shelf and I wondered how th More...

2 comments like (6 people liked it)

Nov 10, 2008

Mohammad rated it:

This is yet another one of Roald Dahl's books. In this book James lives with his cruel aunts after his parents were killed and eaten up by a rhinoceros which escaped from the London Zoo. I don;t find this true since rhinoceros are herbivores and are not known to eat any humans at all. But with that aside, after James had lived with his aunts a mysterious man confronts him and offers him magic seed for a potion that would bring James happiness.
After rushing to his aunt's kitchen he tr More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 25, 2010

JabBeRwoCkY rated it:

I love the characters in the story; there are James's aunties, Aunt Sponge who is very fat and Aunt Spiker who is as thin as a rake. They are both horrible to James, but it is time for James's revenge...

James finds a man at the bottom of his garden and he gives James magic beans. Later on in the story James accidentally drops the beans in the bottom of the garden and in a few days' time he finds a very big peach down there.

Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker make lots of money f More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 05, 2008

Debbie rated it:

James Henry Trotter, whose parents were killed by a stampeding rhino, is stuck with his wicked aunts. His life changes forever when he meets an old man who gives him some magic crystals, which he is supposed to drink. Before he can follow the old man's instructions, he trips and spills the crystals under a withered peach tree.

Soon, the tree grows the most enormous peach ever and the aunts make a bunch of money selling tickets to see it. James finds a hidden tunnel that leads to t More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 26, 2009

Maryellen rated it:

I listen to this on cd with Waverly (and Henry a bit). Jermey Irons's reading is great - he does all these crazy voices.

Peter got it for the kids for Christmas, and I was nervous because I remembered this as being really scary and strange. Its a little harsh (the mean Aunts get squished and centipede at one point recites a poem revelling in this fact), but it is such a great story and so well read and the harshness doesn't seem to bother the kids (I'm not sure that's a good thing More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 19, 2010

Harun Harahap rated it:

Seperti biasa, Roald Dahl selalu punya cerita aneh.

Di awal ceritapun sudah terasa aneh, seekor BADAK memakan orangtua James. hehehe, baru tau gw badak makan orang. Lalu ada buah persik raksasa yang berhasil terbang karena bantuan ratusan burung camar.

Ditengah ceritanya aneh tapi ga gitu menggelitik. Seperti pelangi yang dibuat dengan cara dicat oleh manusia awan. Hingga tiba pada beberapa bagian sebelum akhir cerita, terjadi lagi keanehan yang bikin gw terbahak-bahak. Aw More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 09, 2009

Sam rated it:

It was a really exciting and suspenseful book.My favorite part about it was when James and all of the bugs were in the peach and the birds were carrying the peach over the ocean.

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 17, 2008

83zulu rated it:

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl is a great book to read if you dont know what's the right book for you to read. It is about thisboy named James Henry Trotter. He is very miserable after his parents died in a bad, strange rhinoceros accident. He had no choice to move in with his mean aunts named Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker. Aunt Sponge was very big and round. Aunt Spiker was very tal and skinny. James was very miserable for three years living with them. One day James came across this More...

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Feb 10, 2012

Katie rated it:

James and the Giant Peach is the story of James Henry Trotter, who had a wonderful childhood until his parents were eaten by a rhinoceros and he was sent to live with his nasty Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spike. One day, an old man gives James some magic crystals that will give him more magic than anyone in the whole world. While James tries to sneak past his aunts, he drops the crystals under a tree and they soak into the soil. Suddenly, the tree sprouts a giant peach, full of giant insects, which Jam More...

0 comments like

Dec 12, 2011

Jerri rated it:

1. Junior Book- Fantasy
2. A lonely, abused little boy who lives with his two dreadful aunts, Sponge and Spiker, finds his luck changing after a meeting with a strange old man. The magic that the old man passed onto James finds its way to the peach tree. From this tree the most gigantic peach you’ve ever seen grows and takes James away from his misery and teaches him a thing or two about friendship along the way.
3. a. Imagery
b. Ronald Dahl’s use of imagery in this childr More...

0 comments like

Dec 08, 2011

Luke rated it:

This was one of my favorite books as a child. Reading it as an adult, I picked up a lot more witty funny lines, but also realized how dark and poetic this book really is. Aside from that, the adventures seem so incredibly fun. If only this were a non-fiction. Roald Dahl definitely hits a lot of different emotions behind this read. It's exciting, playful, quirky, and at some points frightful.

James is a young lad who lives with his cruel aunts after his parents died in a tragic rhinocer More...

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Nov 28, 2011

Curtis rated it:

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl is a truly spectacular book. James was forced to live with his terrible aunts after his parents were killed by an angry rhinoceros that escaped from the London Zoo. Life looked bleak for James until a little old man emerged from the bushes and offered him a magic concoction. "Whoever they meet first, be it bug, insect, animal, or tree, that will be the one who gets the full power of the magic!" James ran home but tripped beneath the old peach tre More...

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Nov 08, 2011

Akyah rated it:

This book, along with E.B. White's Stuart Little, is a very adventurous and imaginative book. It takes place somewhere in Europe.This book is about a little boy named James and his two aunts. His mother and father were eaten by a hippopotamus while out in Europe. Since his parents were "gone" his wicked aunts agreed to "take care" of him. While outside, James is given some magic beans that will make anything grow. When James accidentaly drops the magic beans, they soak into More...

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Oct 03, 2011

Mark rated it:

James and the Giant Peach

Where to begin with this classic? I remember reading this myself in Primary School and loved it then. After re-reading this book quite a few years later, I love it just as much as before.

Early on in the story, James’ parents are tragically killed in an accident involving a rhinoceros that has escaped from a zoo in London. As James is just four years old when the accident happens, he is placed into the care of his two hideous aunts; Aunt Sponge and Aun More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 09, 2011

Simone rated it:

Roald Dahl is an excellent children’s writer. He manages to set the pitch of the story from the onset; introducing the key characters by describing them physical features and personality. In James and the Giant Peach, Roald Dahl begins by introducing the main character, James, an orphan who has to live with his wicked aunts, Sponge and Spiker. James is treated very harshly through no fault of his own. However, his fortunes are reversed when he meets a strange old man who seems to know about his More...

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Sep 05, 2011

Colm rated it:

James and the Giant Peach is withot doubt my favourite Roald Dahl book. Dahl, who some refer to as the best story teller that ever lived tells a story rich with imagery and dialogue.

This is a story which is both strange and wonderful. It begins with the most unimaginable death probable, by rhinoceros, killing both James' parents and leaving him an orphan. Unfortunately for poor James he is put in the care of his two ghastly aunts, suitably named Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker. Everythi More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 02, 2011

Adam rated it:

Having read Roald Dahl’s book, ‘James and the Giant Peach’ in the context of using it for a key stage 2 class, it provides many of qualities that make this book well suited for the classroom. The book is about a young boy called James Henry Trotter, who loses his parents at the age of four to an angry rhinoceros who decides to eat them. Due to losing his parents, he is forced to live with his two wicked aunts, Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge. Both Aunts treat James terribly, making him their persona More...

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Aug 23, 2011

Denise rated it:

While in the midst of reading some "heavier", more sophisticated grown-up fare, I took a break to give myself my first ever experience with reading Roald Dahl (Borders was selling a Dahl boxed set for half-off, and I had to go ahead and buy it).

I never read Dahl as a child -- I'm not sure why. Maybe he just wasn't in vogue then...I really don't even remember seeing his books on the shelves when I was little.

But better late than never. This episodic adventure of More...

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Aug 18, 2011

Sandy rated it:

Perhaps I should confess right up front that this review of what is popularly regarded solely as a children's book is being written by a 50+-year-old male "adult" who hadn't read a kids' book in many years. For me, Welsh author Roald Dahl had long been the guy who scripted one of my favorite James Bond movies, 1967's "You Only Live Twice," and who was married for 30 years to the great actress Patricia Neal. Recently, though, in need of some "mental palate cleansing" More...

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Jul 08, 2011

Andy rated it:

I picked up the Roald Dahl 'Phizz-Whizzing' collection yesterday (15 books in a colourful hardcover slipcase for $70). A remarkable bargain, especially as I had been planning on buying them all again at some point soon. Yes, somewhere in a box back in the UK I have all these from my childhood but, hey, it's not like they're going to go unread.

The years have slipped by enough that I can't really remember any of the details of the books, just the vague outline, so reading them again is More...

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May 29, 2011

Jan rated it:

Personally, I'm a sucker for happy stories. Unfortunately though, this book like many other fantastical children's escapist stories, is anchored in absolute despair. Remember the Lemony Snicket series, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Harry Potter series and though many may not agree, Calvin and Hobbes (a delusional, lonely little boy with an imaginary tiger for a friend)?

James' parents are eaten by an angry rhinoceros that has escaped from the zoo. Poor James then has to live More...

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Mar 14, 2011

Shelley rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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