James and the Giant Peach

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In James and the Giant Peach, more than seventy changes were made, such as removing references to Sponge as fat (including writing an entirely new poem), changing queer to strange, removing references to skin colour (such as "his face white with horror", "looking white and thin", and the Earthworm's "lovely pink skin"), and changing Cloud-Men to Cloud-People. [14] [15] Original text After the tourists have gone, James is assigned to clean the rubbish around the peach and finds a hole inside it. He crawls in, through a tunnel, and he finds himself in a room, in the enlarged peach pit. There, he meets Centipede, Miss Spider, Old Green Grasshopper, Earthworm, Ladybug, Glowworm, and Silkworm who become his friends.

There are numerous changes in both the plot of the film and the plot of the book, though the film was generally well received. Felicity Dahl said that, "I think Roald would have been delighted with what they did with James." [17] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly praised the animated part, but calling the live-action segments "crude". [20] It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score (by Randy Newman). James and the Giant is undeniably macabre. Dahl never shies away from infusing his stories with ghastly elements. Book challenges and banning is proof to the power of good literature, creative language, and original imagery. While some might have issues with certain realities of the world that children are growing up in; and as troubled as it makes adults to be reminded of these facts as they attempt to shield their children from harm, children’s literature is a great way for them to get a glimpse at the issues that they WILL have to deal with some day. As they are floating, they come across some 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, which snaps some of the strings, and the peach begins to descend. As the peach approaches land, it crashes on top of the Empire State Building.Their names were Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spider, and I am sorry to say that they were both really horrible people. They were selfish and lazy and cruel, and right from the beginning they started beating poor James for almost no reason at all. They never called him by his real name, but always referred to him as "you disgusting little beast" or "you filthy nuisance" or "you miserable creature," and they certainly never game him any toys to play with or any picture books to look at. I also really loved that there was a reference in the story to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The peach crashes into a chocolate factory causing a stream of chocolate to swarm the streets! It was awesome! Usually, if I don't care for a book, I keep schtum about it here. Not only is it not as much fun to talk about books I didn't like, but bad-mouthing other author's books is pretty rude. Ray DaSilva's Norwich Puppet Theatre put on puppet theatre performances in 1985. [26] Charity readings [ edit ]

What can be more whimsical than escaping an awful life in a giant peach with a bunch of friendly bugs? James found a new family and discovered his own self worth/self esteem during his adventures as he became a leader. It’s a very heart warming and hopeful tale. And you just have to love the bugs! They all have unique personalities and roles. My favorites are Miss Spider and Centipede. Lady Bird (aka Mrs. Ladybug) always reminded me of my grandmother in the movie LOL! I knew I liked this book as a kid but I couldn't remember the details of the story. The thing that stayed in my mind all these years was the feeling of claustrophobia when James makes his way inside the peach and finds all the giant, friendly creepy-crawlies inside the peach pit. As a kid you always place yourself within the story, and I remember thinking how I'd hate to be in that enclosed space with all those critters and no windows. There was no fear of Old-Green-Grasshopper or Centipede or Earthworm or any of the others, just the feeling that if I were James I'd want OUT of that peach pit and into the fresh air. I recently read it with my son, and while it wasn't *awful,* it was just... Meh. It was just a series of vaguely interesting events loosely connected by not much of anything. Here's the thing, before this book, I read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to my boy. *That* was an interesting book. Charlie was in a bad place. He was a sympathetic character. He *wanted* something for himself. He strove for it. And when he got it, we, the readers, were delighted. So, a couple of month ago I got gifted a whole box of Roal Dahl's books by somebody who knew very well he was my favourite author when I was a child. So, obviously, I decided to re-read all his books. And the more I read them, the more I become convinced that I don't really like Roald Dahl. I mean, his ideas are bizarre and funny but after a while they just become repetitive. Also, he's mean!! I would sincerely think twice before giving his books to a kid...Crocodile tongues! One thousand long slimy crocodile tongues boiled up in the skull of a dead witch for twenty days and nights with the eyeballs of a lizard! Add the fingers of a young monkey, the gizzard of a pig, the beak of a green parrot, the juice of a porcupine, and three spoonfuls of sugar. Stew for another week, and then let the moon do the rest!" The Centipede – A male centipede, depicted as a boisterous rascal and proud of his 'hundred legs', even though he only has 42.