James and the Giant Peach

Summary:

When James accidentally drops some magic crystals by the old peach tree, strange things start to happen. The peach at the top of the tree begins to grow, and before long it's as big as a house. When James discovers a secret entranceway into the fruit and crawls inside, he meets wonderful new friends--the Old-Green-Grasshopper, the dainty Ladybug, and the Centipede of the multiple boots. After years of feeling like an outsider in his aunts' house, James finally found a place where he belongs. With a snip of the stem, the peach household starts rolling away--and the adventure begins!

 Roald Dahl's first and most widely celebrated book for young people continues to thrill readers around the world.  (Summary and cover courtesy of goodreads.com)

Review:

White generally having a lingering happy impression of both this book and movie, I did not remember it very well.  The story itself is nice and certainly not predictable though often I had an “hmmm, well I’ll just go with it” thought.  And though the story was pleasant, I wasn’t enraptured with it the way I remember the movie being.  Ah well, somethings are better read as a kid.

Overall the story was fun and surprisingly light for touching (albeit briefly) on some heavy topics in childhood.  I would not hesitate to read this to any kids I know and I think it would generally be quite a crowd-pleaser in a classroom.

Rating: 4 stars!

Who should read it? Middle grade kids and their parents.