James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl (Book Summary and Review) - Minute Book Report

This is a quick book summary and analysis of James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl. This channel discusses and reviews books, novels, and short stories through drawing...poorly.

This is a story about a boy named James who is forced to live with his two abusive aunts in the English countryside after his parents die to a rhinoceros.

One day, a mysterious old man presents James with a bag of tiny green crystals that have magical powers. However, James falls and spills the tiny green crystals near a dormant peach tree in the yard. The lifeless tree suddenly sprouts a peach, which begins to grow larger and larger.

His abusive aunts take notice of the giant peach and begin charging people money to see it. And after locking up James all day, the aunts force him to clean up after the crowds are gone.

As James is cleaning, he discovers a tunnel leading to the middle of the giant peach. There, he finds a group of human-sized insects: Centipede, Grasshopper, Spider, Earthworm, Ladybug, Silkworm, and Glow-worm. The group befriends James and attribute their giant growth to having eaten the tiny green crystals that James had spilled.

Early the next day, the group decides to venture out by cutting the stem connecting the peach to the tree. The giant peach begins to roll down the hillside, killing James' two aunts in the process.

The giant peach rolls faster and faster until it lands in the ocean. To avoid a group of vicious sharks, James attaches strings to hundreds of seagulls and the peach is carried in the air.

As they are floating in the air, they see Cloud-Men, mystic creatures who are responsible for the different types of weather, like rain, snow, and hail. And as they are drifting through the clouds, the peach crashes into a rainbow and begins to descend.

James sees that they are approaching land and the giant peach crashes on top of the Empire State Building.

In the end, all of the insects become successful in America, and James, who has made a lot of friends, lives in the large peach pit in Central Park.

This story urges readers to take a closer look at the world around them. First, a closer look at nature. There are several amazing things happening in the natural world, from photosynthesis to the water cycle. The book even explores the importance of each type of insect and how each of them contributes to the well-being of the environment.

But this idea of looking closer at the world also applies to looking at other people and how we should take the time to talk to them to get to know them. In doing so, we can find out how they contribute to the rest of us since everyone contributes to the world.

The author also creates a mythos of Cloud-Men to explain how different weather is created. And what's interesting about this mythos is that it has elements that almost make it tribal, with gods and mystics, not science, responsible for natural phenomenon. What this does is portray the world as organic rather than mechanical. That first, nature is controllable, and second, that nature is controlled by organic or mystic beings.

On a more hopeful note, the underlying message of this story is that there are ways to escape a troubling homelife. The verbal and emotional abuse James receives is a bit over-the-top, but that might be the reality for some kids. How do they escape that?

And while they can't fly away on a giant peach, ultimately, this story suggests that abused kids can find possible escapes through friends and writing. That the power of relationships and creativity and imagination are all a person needs to take them anywhere they want to go.

Through Minute Book Reports, hopefully you can get the plot and a few relevant discussion points in just a couple of minutes.

[MinuteBookReports]

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[chloecoleman]

this really helped me because i didn't have to sit through the whole movie or read the whole book to get the jest of it to help my little brother with his James and the giant peach presentation. THANK YOU! <3

[benjichetcuti]

thx you saved me exactly the day before the presentation!!!!

[GDNGHTGRVTY]

Thanks so much! I'm finishing up a degree in Elementary Education and this helped me immensely with a project.

[MinuteBookReports]

That's a good question. In looking at Dahl's writing style, I would say the rhino represents an unfortunate and untimely death. It's like a death that came out of no where, like a car accident. And perhaps rather than have James' parents die from a car accident (too real), Dahl included a rhino to soften the blow, even though the parents are ultimately dead.

I'll think about it more. Thanks for the question.

[Mc_creamer]

Thank you for this this is gonna save me a lot of time❤❤❤

[janeaparis]

That is so very true, that you can escape abuse through education and creativity. I know as I have done this myself. Now we live in a world with internet, so you can even escape on the computer and put your mind almost anywhere, learning and playing and creating. I loved James and the Giant Peach when I was a kid, and I still do. It is very imaginative and creative, and it kept me glued to the pages for days. What fun it was to read. These things are important to kids (everyone), especially, if they are in abusive or scary situations (for instance the Coronavirus now in the world). It helps them find normalcy and uplifts their potentials and minds and hearts.

[keenanpeita]

This was my homework the story I had to write the whole story🙂 thanks man for your help you made my day😀😄😀😄

[Timeforfun]

You are fantastic bro this helped a lot tomorrow is my English literature paper now I don't have to read all 37 chapters or watch a 2 hr movie I pray that may god bless you Thanks a lot bro❤

[sabaadnan]

I love the back ground of these stories

[rajithpriyantha]

Thanks you for putting like this video

[redetz]

Well it’s not a minute btw love ur channel

[miranuggets]

Tysm that helped me bc tomorrow i have a quiz with it❤️

[ngocvan]

Thanks a million for your useful video. Can I have the images that you used in the video?

[AbdulHadi-tkod]

Mann <3 Thanks alot... it helped me so much .. i just have to give a review about this story and now found it..thanks alot bro liked+commented+subscribed =)

[SootWhisker]

My teacher is reading this story I-2 chapters everyday I have spoilers now >:]

[TheWinnerIsYouNES]

I never read this but the Movie was really creepy

[nabihaahmed]

i am reading this novel at my school its really very very interesting

[MinuteBookReports]

The movie has an interesting style to it. It's a lot more exciting than the book. The visuals make it seem more magical.

[leviwilliams]

The book is way different then the play and the movie