James is an orphan and is sent to live with his two awful aunts. James is terribly lonely. One day a strange man gives him some magic elements in a little sack but as James goes to mix his magical concoction he trips and spills it all under the dead peach tree. The tree grows a giant peach and James climbs inside. There he and the insectoid residents set off in the peach for a wonderful journey. This is your typical Dahl with the most hilariously mean and nasty adults and exaggerated humour. For this umpteenth re-read I don't really find it as funny as I used to but the 7yo loved it, though he did make me skip over the songs. He's looking forward to watching the movie this week too. As a read-aloud you simply can't go wrong with anything by Dahl. This edition is illustrated by Lane Smith and I hated the illustrations. I really can't stand it when original illustrations are replaced and "updated", to me it is the same as a classic being 'adapted'. I'll be looking for a replacement copy with the wonderful illustrations by Nancy Ekholm Burkert.