James and the Giant Peach
By Roald Dahl
(Puffin, 1998)

James Henry Trotter led a happy, normal life with his parents in a beautiful house beside the sea. He had lots of children to play with, a sandy beach to run on, and the ocean to play in. It was a perfect life for a little boy. Then one day a strange quirk of fate ended his idyllic life. His parents were eaten up by a rhinoceros which had escaped from the London Zoo.

James was sent to live with his two aunts, Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker. Both were horrible, selfish, lazy, and cruel. Right from the beginning, they started beating James. For the next three years, James led a miserable existence. He was a virtual prisoner in a ramshackle house on the top of a high hill in the south of England. He had no toys, no books to look at, no friends to play with, and no pets to keep him company. But then one hot, summer day, an old man in a crazy dark-green suit brought hope into the sad little boy’s existence. He was a very small old man, but he had a huge, bald head and a face that was covered all over with bristly black whiskers. He gave James a small, white paper bag. In the bag were green, glowing crystals. “’There’s more power and magic in those things in there than in all of the world put together,’ the old man said softly.”

Before James could follow the directions the old man gave him, he slipped and fell. The paper bag broke, causing the thousands of tiny, green things to scatter in all directions. But all was not lost. The full power of the magic was elsewhere. Before long, James would discover how strong that magic was.

The first sign that something strange was about to happen appeared in the old peach tree. It had never produced a peach! But now, what a peach! It didn’t stop growing until it was the size of a small house. As if that wasn’t enough excitement to last a lifetime, you’ll never believe what else was caught up in the magic spell. James crawled inside the peach and met seven new friends, all giants! They were; Old-Green-Grasshopper, Ladybug, Miss Spider, Centipede, Earthworm, Glow-worm, and Silkworm. Together, with James and the giant peach, they embarked on an adventurous manner. Best of all, it took all of them away from the cruelty and abuse of the aunts, and into a happier life.

James and the Giant Peach
Vocabulary