James and the Giant Peach 1/4

Chapters 1-12: Unit overview, author facts, vocab, discussion questions

I’ve long realized that part of the pleasure of reading books with kids is getting the chance to reread all the books I loved as a child. So it is no surprise that this month we are reading James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl. There are a few noticeable differences while rereading this book. The first is that it is more tragic than I remember. James is left orphaned and is sent to live with his heartless aunts. They force him to do hard work and keep him from playing with other children. It is wrenching to read as an adult and parent, but as a child it was merely a plot point. Luckily some magic intervenes on James’ behalf, he hitches a ride on a giant peach with some new friends and we quickly move from tragedy to adventure of tremendous magnitude.

Roald Dahl was the author of 17 books and truly understood what it was like to write for children. He gave them real complex lives and great imagination and talent in his characters. More than most writing, his books are charged with a kind of wonder and a real reverence for the power and sometimes difficulty of being a kid.

Not to mention there are moments of real knockout writing like this on page 27. “The night was all around him now, and high overhead a wild moon was riding in the sky.” We have a great adjective in “wild” to describe the moon and it wasn’t just in the sky, it was riding in it! Could be a little taste of something to come (foreshadowing anyone)? And not to mention a little rhyme in the words “high” and “sky” for good measure. How’s that for a sentence?!

Originally published in 1961, James and the Giant Peach is about a journey as well as the wonder of the natural world. Meaning we will get into some interesting topic as we read it. Here are just a few things we’ll cover as we read this book together this month:

1. Geography

2. Nature activities about habitats and insects

3. Literary devices like flat and round characters

This book is immersive and fantastical and somehow really real. I hope I have made the case for reading it just a little bit and that you are looking forward to diving in!