#147 in Children’s books
James and the Giant Peach
- 144
- Pages
- about 2.5 h
- Reading time
- Film 1996
- On screen
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Our view
“James and the Giant Peach” is a short, fantastical voyage whose warmth lies in a boy finding a family among unlikely companions. Children, some parents report, enjoy it more than the adults reading it to them, while some grown-up readers find the plot dull and rank the book in the middle of Dahl’s work. Apart from the odd rough word, it reads aloud quickly and well.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
James and the Giant Peach is a children's novel written in 1961 by British author Roald Dahl. The first edition, published by Alfred Knopf, featured illustrations by Nancy Ekholm Burkert. There have been re-illustrated versions of it over the years, drawn by Michael Simeon, Emma Chichester Clark, Lane Smith and Quentin Blake. It was adapted into a film of the same name in 1996 which was directed by Henry Selick, and a musical in 2010.
On screen
This book has been adapted for the screen once.
- FilmJames and the Giant PeachIMDb
Adaptation data: Wikidata · On screen →
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.7 across 762 ratings. With that many, the reader vote carries 84% of the weight and the score stays at 7.8 — the Children’s books average of 7.9 barely moves it.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 7.9 | 137 | 18% |
| Hardcover | 7.7 | 625 | 82% |
Frequently asked
What age is James and the Giant Peach for?
James and the Giant Peach sits on the Children shelf in the sources we use, which by convention means roughly ages 5–10. This is a guide from the book’s category, not a publisher’s age rating. It has 144 pages — shorter than 72% of the ranked books in Children’s books.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Children’s books — with scores between 7.5 and 8.0, closest to this book.
