Buzz
Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach possesses all the classic elements of a children's fantasy: a brave young boy embarking on a thrilling adventure, battling sinister forces, and forming unlikely friendships with talking creatures. But what sets this timeless novel apart is its unpredictable plot and occasionally dark imagery (R.I.P., Aunts Sponge and Spiker). These unique features stem from Dahl's own challenges during the writing and publishing process, battling personal doubts and a resistant British publishing world. Here are some lesser-known facts about James and the Giant Peach.
1. THE AUTHOR’S VERY OWN GARDEN SPARKED THE IDEA.
Roald Dahl’s home in the English countryside had a charming apple orchard where he often wandered. One day, he pondered what would happen if apples kept growing without limits. “What would happen if it didn’t stop growing?” Dahl mused in a 1988 interview. “Why should it stop growing at a certain size?” While considering a giant apple, cherry, or pear, none seemed quite right. Eventually, Dahl chose the giant peach for its exciting, flavorful, and more sensuous appeal. As Donald Sturrock wrote in Storyteller: The Authorized Biography of Roald Dahl, this choice perfectly captured the adventure Dahl sought to bring to life.
2. HE HAD A STRONG DESIRE TO WRITE ABOUT INSECTS.
When Dahl decided to craft a children's novel, he considered the types of creatures that would inhabit his story. His children had a deep love for animals, but he felt that many famous authors like Beatrix Potter and A.A. Milne had already explored the best non-human characters. He then turned his attention to insects. “There seemed to be jolly little that had not been written about, except maybe little things like earthworms and centipedes and spiders,” Dahl is said to have shared with his daughter Ophelia. These very insects became characters in James and the Giant Peach, including Earthworm, Centipede, and Miss Spider.
3. A FALLING OUT WITH HIS PUBLISHER MADE HIM QUIT WRITING FOR A WHILE.
While working on the book, Dahl found out that his American publisher, Alfred Knopf, had secretly cancelled the release of his previous story collection, Kiss Kiss. This prompted Dahl to stop working on James and the Giant Peach, even though Knopf had been excited about it. Instead, Dahl shifted his focus to a screenwriting project. “As far as getting a children’s book out of me now, he can stuff that one up his arse,” Dahl wrote in a letter to his New York agent, Sheila St. Lawrence, expressing his frustration with the situation.
4. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH INFLUENCED ONE OF HIS OTHER WORKS AND REFOCUSED HIS EFFORTS ON THE NOVEL.
Dahl's screenwriting venture involved adapting two dozen classic horror stories for television, all chosen by him. The first screenplay he wrote was for a story called 'The Hanging of Arthur Wadham.' The episode was filmed and edited, and it seemed ready for release. However, as Sturrock recounts, the studio grew uneasy. One of the key plot points involved a priest struggling with whether to reveal a confession, potentially violating his sacred vows. Concerned that the episode might offend the Catholic Church and its viewers, the studio decided to cancel the episode and ultimately shut down the entire series. Frustrated, Dahl returned to work on James and the Giant Peach instead.
5. DAHL STRAINED HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS LONGTIME AGENT AND FRIEND WHILE WORKING ON THE STORY.
For over a decade, Dahl relied heavily on his New York-based agent, Sheila St. Lawrence, who was a trusted friend and advisor. She encouraged him to write James and The Giant Peach and even contributed to the book, such as the scene where cloud men attack the flying peach with hailstones. However, when Dahl signed a new agent in England, Laurence Pollinger, things took a turn for the worse with St. Lawrence.
Pollinger persuaded Dahl to let him handle the translation rights for both Kiss Kiss (which Penguin had agreed to publish) and James and the Giant Peach, tasks that had previously been managed by St. Lawrence. Dahl informed her of the decision, but St. Lawrence responded by telling him to stay out of the matter and allow her to deal with Pollinger directly. After a heated argument, St. Lawrence ultimately gave up the fight. Although Dahl and St. Lawrence eventually reconciled, she felt betrayed by his change in loyalty. Less than a year later, she left her position and moved to Ireland.
6. HE PUSHED THROUGH PERSONAL TRAGEDY WHILE CREATING THE STORY.
On December 5, 1960, Dahl’s infant son, Theo, suffered severe injuries when a New York taxi collided with his stroller. To manage the fluid buildup in Theo’s head, which absorbed much of the impact, doctors inserted a shunt. The tube often became clogged, leading Dahl and his wife, actress Patricia Neal, to frequent emergency room visits. Instead of succumbing to grief, Dahl became a medical advocate and, with the help of doctors and a toymaker, invented an improved shunt called the Dahl-Wade-Till valve. This device went on to help over 3,000 children—but Theo wasn’t one of them, as he had recovered by that time. Dahl still found time to complete James, finishing the book in early 1961.
7. HE CHOSE AN UNKNOWN ARTIST TO BRING THE STORY TO LIFE.
As Sturrock notes, Dahl rejected several famous artists, including Danish painter Lars Bo, in favor of an up-and-coming American artist, Nancy Eckholm Burkert. This was her first job illustrating a book, and while her whimsical yet surreal illustrations captured Dahl’s vision, it seemed he also chose her because she was receptive to his ideas. Dahl had a very clear picture of how the illustrations should appear and often provided unsolicited guidance. For example, he insisted that James resemble Christopher Robin from Ernest Howard Shepherd’s illustrations in Winnie the Pooh. He wrote to his editor at Knopf, “A face with character is not so important as a face with charm. One must fall in love with him.”
8. THE INITIAL U.S. SALES OF JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH WERE SLOW.
Despite glowing reviews in The New York Times and other outlets, James and the Giant Peach sold only 2,600 copies in the U.S. during its first year. Dahl’s editor at Knopf reassured him that this was typical for lesser-known authors and that sales would eventually grow. However, one factor that may have hindered the book's success was a scathing review in the influential Library Journal, where Ethel Heins, despite acknowledging the book's “original elements,” criticized its violent themes and the portrayal of Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker, ultimately concluding: “Not Recommended.”
9. IT TOOK SEVEN YEARS TO SECURE A PUBLISHER IN THE UK.
It’s hard to imagine now, but Dahl faced immense difficulty finding a publisher for James and the Giant Peach in the United Kingdom. Long-established publishers dismissed the book as an odd and grotesque fantasy, with some even boasting about rejecting it. However, fortune finally smiled on him when his daughter Tessa gave the manuscript to her friend Camilla Unwin, daughter of UK publisher Rayner Unwin (a name familiar to Tolkien fans: it was Rayner who, many years earlier, had recommended the publication of The Hobbit to his father, Sir Stanley Unwin).
Unwin noticed how captivated his daughter was by Dahl’s book and decided to investigate its publishing status. Despite being primarily a textbook publisher, Unwin took a chance on Dahl, acquiring both James and the Giant Peach and his other work at the time, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
10. DAHL MADE A DARING BET WITH HIS PUBLISHING DEAL.
Desperate to be recognized and published in his home country, Dahl signed a high-risk deal that promised him 50 percent of the sales revenue—but only after the publisher, Unwin, had covered production costs. For Dahl to earn anything, both of the books needed to be successful—and they were. The first print run of both books sold out quickly, followed by successive printings. By the early 1970s, Roald Dahl had become a household name in the UK—and a very wealthy one at that.
11. HE WAS AGAINST A MOVIE ADAPTATION.
Throughout his life, Dahl rejected numerous offers to turn James and the Giant Peach into a movie, believing that the story would be too challenging to adapt for the screen. After his passing in 1990, his second wife, Felicity (or Liccy, as he called her), decided to pursue a film version, hoping that Henry Selick would direct. (Selick, known for The Nightmare Before Christmas [1993], had a visual style that Dahl’s daughter Lucy admired.) Liccy agreed to Selick’s stop-motion approach, and the 1996 film that resulted was met with mostly positive reviews.
12. THE BOOK FACES FREQUENT CHALLENGES.
Dahl’s work doesn’t shy away from dark themes like death and child abuse, making it a frequent target for book challenges across the United States. The American Library Association ranked it #50 on their list of “Most Challenged Books 1990-1999.” Critics have also taken issue with the book’s surreal elements and perceived sexual undertones. In 1986, a town in Wisconsin banned the book over a scene in which Mrs. Spider licked her lips.
13. . . BUT DAHL DIDN’T PAY MUCH ATTENTION TO HIS CRITICS.
Dahl’s biographers often describe him as someone who was deeply concerned with his image as a literary titan, yet held a strong disdain for critics. He believed that adults were not capable of accurately judging children’s literature. In a letter responding to a young fan of James and the Giant Peach, Dahl wrote: “So far, a lot of adults have written reviews, but none of them really understood what they were talking about because an adult talking about a children’s book is like a man talking about a woman’s hat.”
14. A MUSICAL VERSION OF THE BOOK EXISTS.
The songwriting duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul adapted Dahl’s book into a stage musical, which premiered in 2010 and had successful runs in Seattle and Atlanta. It's also been licensed for performances at schools and community theaters, meaning you might catch it at a local high school or playhouse. For a more convenient experience, you could enjoy the 20-track studio album, which features Skylar Astin from the 2012 film Pitch Perfect, along with Broadway stars Brian d’Arcy James and Megan Hilty.
