Cloud-men causing weather chaos with hailstones? A grasshopper that plays the violin? Set across the iconic metropolis backgrounds of London and New York, James and the Giant Peach tells the tale of James Henry Trotter and a ladybird, glow-worm, centipede and others, as they leave England to sail in a peach to America.
My first exposure to this literary imaginarium was the 1996 film, which I was obsessed with and watched over and over again as a child. The book, first published in America in 1961, is justifiably more magnificent, with Quentin Blake's illustrations creating the classic we know today.
The inclusion of several cultural landmarks, such as London Zoo, might be one of the many reasons why Dahl's treasure is included in The Telegraph's list of 15 best children's books. It would be a sin to slander this book in any way. So I won't. It's a gem.
Carpe Diem xx
