James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

• Title: James and the Giant Peach
• Author: Roald Dahl
• Publishing: Puffin Books, Reprint Edition. August 16, 2007. 
• Synopsis: The story of James and the Giant Peach begins when James' parents are tragically eaten by a rhinoceros and he is forced to live with with his terribly mean aunt Spiker and aunt Sponge. Life there is very horrible and lonely for James until one day he is given magic crystals which create a gigantic peach. James climbs inside the peach to discover a group of oversized bugs which become his friends and they sail on the sea in their peach on a whirlwind adventure. Each time the group finds themselves in trouble on their journey, James always seems to save the day. In the end, the new friends make a dramatic landing in New York City where James realizes the power of friendship and how lucky he is to have had them while on his adventure in the giant peach. 
• The author wrote this story as an epic with many different trials and tribulations while on a journey of a lifetime. The author also uses a unique style in his writing where he occasionally adds in a song written in verse like a poem said by a character that adds a nice change of pace and a unique style to his writing. The illustrations in the book are drawn in a kid like manner that adds to the fun feel of the book. 
• I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it had me excited to read on the whole way through. In this book especially I fell in love with the characters and the special bond that they had in the story. Their unique and well developed personalities all made the story that much more exciting to read. I loved how the author found a way to tell the message of the importance of friendship as an unbreakable bond through the hilarious trials of a bunch of bugs and a boy in a giant peach. James and the Giant Peach is so unique and well written that it has definitely earned a place among my favorite books. 
• Last semester in one of my education classes I wrote a unit intended for 2nd grade about this story so I have already thought in depth about how to use this book in the classroom. However, I have thought of a number of ways in which I could add to my unit  in mini lessons. While reading the book again, I realized just how much figurative language there is throughout the whole story and I thought it would be a great idea to include a mini lesson on similes. I would teach the concept of a simile and discuss a few examples of how similes were used in the book, I would then have students make groups and go on a simile scavenger hunt in which they would scour the book for atlas five different examples of similes. I would then have them pick one, write it down, and then draw a picture of it which then I would hang around our classroom during the book unit. I would also add to my unit a cause and effect mini lesson because there are various instances throughout the book where something happens and then James does something because of it. This would be a great way to test comprehension and work on our understanding of cause and effect. I found a great cause and effect worksheet from teacherpayteachers.com that can be located here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Graphic-Organizer-for-Cause-and-Effect-421589
• I found an awesome book trailer that can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4lJqM13J0k
• Roald Dahl, the author has a very well done website that I have discussed in a different blog post and his website can be located here: https://www.roalddahl.com