Sion's Book Review

James and the Giant Peach

James and the Giant Peach
By Roald Dahl
Puffin Books, 156 pages

How easy was it to get stuck into this book?
It was easy to get stuck into this book because Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge were always mean to James and I wanted to see if James got the best of his aunts!

Who are the main characters?
The main characters are James Henry Trotter, Aunt Spiker, Aunt Sponge, the Old Green Grasshopper, Centipede, Miss Spider, Ladybird, Earthworm, Silkworm and last but not least the Glow-worm.

What’s the story line?
Well James was out cutting wood with a blunt axe and James stopped for a while to think about what other children in the world were doing and he was also resting from the blazing hot sun. Aunt Sponge saw that James had stopped and asked him why, and James asked her, “Can’t we just catch a bus and go to the beach, it’s awfully hot?”

“You lazy good-for-nothing brute!” Aunt Spiker shouted, so James then ran around the house crying and hid behind some bushes. It was at that exact moment that James heard rustling in the bushes behind him and then out popped an old man wearing a green suit.

The old man put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a small packet whilst hobbling towards James and said, “Take a look my dear.”

James peered inside the packet and saw what looked like tiny green crystals the size of grains of rice, amazingly beautiful and bright. Then the old man said, “There is more magic in those crystals than the whole world put together.”

“But what are they?” asked James.

“You’d never guess that,” said the old man and then he started blabbing on about some most unlikely ingredients, and how he remembered them I do not know.

Soon after that the old man pushed the crystals into James’s hands and said, “Here take It it’s yours.” Then the old man gave James some very strict instructions saying, “Do not let those crystals get out of the packet or they will work their magic upon something else and not you, and oh, off you go my boy, hurry up don’t wait!”

So James then ran off heading towards the house when he tripped and all the green crystals went flying out underneath the old peach tree. James quickly tried to pick them up but they sank down into the soil before he got a chance to grab them and that my dear friends is when the adventure began!!

How is it written?
It is written in an adventurous and imaginative way that I always like!!

Other books that I know of by the same author:
Fantastic Mr Fox
The Twits
Esio Trot
The Magic Finger

The overall verdict:
I rate it 5/5 for enjoyment!