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Wednesday, April 11, 2012

J is for James

James is the hero.

And if I say Roald Dahl I'll bet you know who I'm talking about.


If you're lucky you have an edition like the one pictured, with the Burkert illustrations. Regardless, I'm sure you're familiar with James, the  hero of this story, a normal happy boy until his parents are eaten by a rhino at the zoo. Remember his awful aunts? Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker? Weren't they just the most horrible people? No wonder we were rooting for James. No surprise we were pleased when the aunts met their satisfying end and even better when wonderful things started to happen to James.

I think James was one of the first heroes I met. Certainly he's one of the most memorable. Do you remember any of your first favorites? Care to share? And don't be shy you know I love comments :)

19 comments:

Nick Wilford said...

Dahl certainly knew how to create memorable villains! I'm quite jealous of that edition - beautiful.

Hmm, I think I'll go for another Dahl hero, Charlie. The humble underdog who comes out on top.

blissflower1969 said...

I honestly can't remember the first hero I actually admired. I tend to lean towards the anti-hero anyway; the flawed characters that we end up rooting for in spite of themselves.

Unknown said...

One of my earliest 'heroes' was Amelia Jane (Enid Blyton books). She was always in trouble, but had such a good heart. :)

Jack Edwards Poetry said...

A great post. My first Roald Dahl book was 'The Twits'. I'd really like to go back to it now and re-read it.

All the best,
Jack

mshatch said...

yeah, I tried to get the book for me niece - specifically with those illustrations but it isn't available unless you want to pay $4-500 dollars!!! MY son and I both have our own copy.

mshatch said...

Lestat would qualify for that role I think.

mshatch said...

I love characters like that!

mshatch said...

I haven't read that one [putting on list].

cleemckenzie said...

I'm not sure this one was my FIRST hero, but he was one who stayed with me. I loved Hawkeye in The Last of the Mohicans.

Great J day. On to K!

Anne Mackle said...

I've never read this book, I don't know why. I loved the Secret Seven by Enid Blyton, they were my first heros.

mshatch said...

I didn't read that one but I sure liked him in The Deerslayer.

mshatch said...

I haven't read that; I'll have to check it out on Amazon. Thanks :)

Angela Ackerman said...

Ah james! I loved this book!

Angela

Jessica Marcarelli said...

I never read this book but have been meaning to for some time.

My first hero had to have been Peter Pan. I still have vague memories of forcing all my schoolmates to play "Peter Pan" games with me in preschool.

Jessica
A to Z Blogger & SF/Fantasy Writer @ Visions of Other Worlds

mshatch said...

How could i have forgotten Peter Pan?!

Dina Thanki said...

Lovely post and yep love the book. My favourite was always Dumbo, from the Disney movies. That was my first ever video i got as a gift from my cousin and i still have it, although don't have a video player anymore :( He is such a brave little elephant and he showed all those older elephants who were rude to him that he could be someone better, he's my inspiration still today (I'm nearly 28, does that make it wrong?)

Leslie S. Rose said...

James and the Giant Peach has always been special to me. I use the Aunts in a sketch lesson in my classroom because their description is so vivid in the text. My first hero was D'Artagnan in the Three Musketeers.

Unknown said...

I loved that book as a child! And Charlie was a favourite of mine too.

Rob and Lisa said...

Roald Dahl was always one of my favorite authors.

Lisa
http://livethemoment09.blogspot.com