James and the Giant Peach - (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) by Roald Dahl (Paperback)

About the Book

When James drops magic crystals by the peach tree, the toy peach starts growing. Before long, its as big as a house and contains a secret entranceway.

Book Synopsis

A stunning 50th-anniversary deluxe edition of Roald Dahl's beloved James and the Giant Peach, featuring
--a new introduction by Aimee Bender, the New York Times bestselling author of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
--cover art by the award-winning cartoonist Jordan Crane
--the original interior art from the 1961 first edition
--French flaps and deckle-edged paper

James and the Giant Peach is a perennial bestseller about a boy's magical journey across the sea, by one of the most beloved storytellers of our time. When James, a boy stuck living with his cantankerous aunts, is given magic crystals by a sympathetic wizard, he accidentally drops them at the foot of the peach tree outside his house, causing one of the fruits to grow the size of a house. Inside he finds oversized insects who promise him deliverance from his aunts, and soon the giant peach is rolling downhill, bound for the Atlantic Ocean and beyond on a magnificent adventure that will take James and his new friends far indeed.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Review Quotes

"This newly-illustrated edition of an avowed children's favorite has all the makings of a classic match-up: Milne had Shepard, Carroll had Tenniel, and now Dahl has Smith...author and illustrator were made for each other, and it's of little consequence that it took almost 35 years for them to meet" --Kirkus.

About the Author

Roald Dahl (1916-1990) was born in Wales of Norwegian parents. He spent his childhood in England and, at age eighteen, went to work for the Shell Oil Company in Africa. When World War II broke out, he joined the Royal Air Force and became a fighter pilot. At the age of twenty-six he moved to Washington, D.C., and it was there he began to write. His first short story, which recounted his adventures in the war, was bought by The Saturday Evening Post, and so began a long and illustrious career.

After establishing himself as a writer for adults, Roald Dahl began writing children's stories in 1960 while living in England with his family. His first stories were written as entertainment for his own children, to whom many of his books are dedicated.

Roald Dahl is now considered one of the most beloved storytellers of our time. Although he passed away in 1990, his popularity continues to increase as his fantastic novels, including James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, The BFG, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, delight an ever-growing legion of fans.

Learn more about Roald Dahl on the official Roald Dahl Web site: www.roalddahl.com

Aimee Bender (introduction) is the bestselling author of the novels The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, An Invisible Sign of My Own, and The Butterfly Lampshade and the story collections The Girl in the Flammable Skirt, Willful Creatures, and The Color Master. She lives in Los Angeles.