James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl, 1961

It takes a little magic to rescue James Henry Trotter from his miserable like with Aunts Spiker and Sponge. He gets more than a little magic when some curious squirmy things makes a wizened peach tree sprout a peach the size of a house, inhabited by human-sized worms and bugs. Why shouldn't James and his insect friends sail across the Atlantic Ocean by seagull, pursued by sharks and cloud men? With Dahl, anything's possible. Marvelously absurd and surreal fantasy; verse songs are a highlight. Strongly recommended.