James and the Giant Peach – Book Party

For this book celebration I found a recipe for a peach cake (AMAZING) added sliced peaches to the batter and baked it in a smallish Pyrex bowl half at a time. Instead of cream cheese frosting we used the prized maple butter I’d been saving since Vermont and added a little coconut butter to it – then some cool whip to help it shmear. Oh, it also had to have a peach pit! We achieved this by scooping out a spot for an Easter egg filled with tiny green things inside it (gum drops).

A trip to the dollar store and Mr. Centipede and Mr. Grasshopper were right at home on top near the bay leaf stem. We also picked up some white balloons to turn into seagulls. The original idea was to add paper wings and beaks but they turned out too heavy and drawing with sharpies took wing.

We made a game with book themed activities which had to be done when landed on. Some of the favorites were making a hammock like Mrs. Spiders,

reenacting the hail storm using tin-foil balls (this took on a life of its own),

getting face paint from the cloud men, steam rolling over Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge, rolling off the bed and building a human pyramid (a ladder for the police).