James And the Giant Peach
Roald Dahl ~ Nancy Ekholm Burkert ~ Alfred A. Knopf, 1961
We just finished reading James and the Giant Peach for the umpteenth time, and I swear, that man was an incredible storyteller. Perhaps even one of the best of all time. His books always find me thinking and searching at the end. The language is so concise and clear, yet wonderfully poetic, and the themes bigger than the stories about foxes and giants and glowworms that they inhabit. Even better, as I mentioned before, I came across a first edition copy of James while I was in Seattle with the original, full color US version illustrations by Ms. Burkert. It made this read even more special to see him spying these treasures for the first time. What a talent that lady is.
Lovely, lovely, lovely.
Also by:Dirty Beasts
The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Magic Finger
Danny Champion of the World
James and the Giant Peach ~ Michel Simeon version
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ooh beautiful! i think i remember these illustrations actually. i have a feeling my grandparents had the same copy in their house. thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteWe are about to go see a live production of this so I went scouring our 2nd hand stores (as we haven't read it) and was lucky enough to find a version illustrated by Burkert YAY!!! Can't wait to start it with the kids today :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting!
ReplyDeleteI ran across several gems this weekend - all Little Golden Books for $1.25 at our used bookstore. The most notable was a 1946, first edition of The Taxi That Hurried. I thought of you.
Thanks, as always, for your wonderful posts! We are still enjoying all the Beatrix Potter books that we won in a giveaway here, years ago. Thank you!
Amy (Jonathan's Mom)
Love those illustrations! Thanks for sharing!
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