James and the Giant Peach

I’ll be honest, in all my years I have read very few Roald Dahl books.  I had a teacher in elementary school read The BFG to me in school and I remember loving it and I may have read Matilda on my own, but I don’t think I’ve read many others, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach.  So as I was working on finding a read-aloud book for 2nd – 4th graders for a program at the library, I picked up James and the Giant Peach as a possible option.

It is definitely an entertaining story of a young boy, named James and his adventures with some oversized insects and a giant peach.  There are the typical mean adults which James needs to escape from, a magical encounter, seagulls, sharks, Cloud Men, and the Empire State Building.  Dahl has a wonderful imagination and the story is full of fun made-up words, fun songs, and some characters with great personalities, overall it was a fun read and a definite possibility as a read aloud.

Title: James and the Giant Peach
Author: Roald Dahl
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Page Number: 146 pgs.