Peachboy

by Eric Metaxas, Jeffrey Smith

Momotaro, the Peachboy, sets out on a heroic quest to the Isle of Death to conquer the ogres tormenting his people, in an audio version of the Japanese folktale featuring music by Ryuichi Sakamoto. Read by Sigourney Weaver.

Hardcover

First published September 1, 1995

About the author

In a decidedly eclectic career, Eric Metaxas has written for VeggieTales, Chuck Colson, Rabbit Ears Productions and the New York Times, four things not ordinarily in the same sentence. He is a best-selling author whose biographies, children’s books, and works of popular apologetics have been translated into more than 25 languages.

Reviews

[Ronyell · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Peachboy” is one of the classics from Rabbit Ears’ “We All Have Tales” series and is probably the most dramatic and heartwarming story out of the whole series since East of the Sun, West of the Moon. With Sigourney Weaver’s tender narration, along with Ryuichi Sakamoto’s mesmerizing music and Jeffrey Smith’s beautiful illustrations, “Peachboy” is an instant classic that cannot be beat!

Sigourney Weaver’s narration is so tender and soothing that she helps reinforce the intensity of this story, especially during the scenes of the emotional loss for the parents who lost their children to the ogres. Ryuichi Sakamoto’s music brilliantly captures the Japanese influence of the story making this story dramatic. Jeffrey Smith’s illustrations are beautiful as they brilliantly capture the essence of the Japanese characters. The image that probably stood out the most would be the image of Momotaro himself as he has a small and distinguished looking mustache and wears a traditional green Japanese outfit with a red belt that makes him look more heroic.

Parents should know that the scene with the ogres might be a little scary to younger children. The ogres are drawn so realistically that smaller children will definitely be frightened and what will frighten children even more is the fact that these ogres had kidnapped many of the village’s children when they were young. This part of the story might scare young children as they will probably think that the ogres will kidnapped them at the middle of the night and parents should explain to their children that this is merely a fairy tale and that most of the creatures in this book (except the dog, pheasant and ape) are imaginary.

“Peachboy” is a fantastic tale from Japan about the true power of friendship and courage and children will easily watch this video over and over again. I would recommend this video to children ages five and up since the scenes with the ogres might be too scary for smaller children.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

[Mckinley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stories good, I think I'd like a different version though. This one seemed hurried.

[Kiersten Koch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Japanese folktale is about a large peach that shows up at the home of an old man and woman. Inside the peach held a little boy, and the couple was very happy as all of their children had been stolen by ogres. Once the boy was older, he was very large and strong and set off to overtake the ogres that had stolen the couple's other children. As he ventured to the ogres, he was joined by thousands of animals wanting to help his fight. When they arrived, all of the ogres panicked and descended into the pit of the Earth. Once defeating the ogres, the boy brought all of the people who had been imprisoned back home. This book is a story of triumph that can inspire children to help those who need it.

[Sierra Dirksen · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Peachboy" is about a couple whose children were stolen by Ogres. One day a boy came out of a peach, and they decided to raise him as their son. He grew quickly and decided to set off into the world on his own, along the ay he befriended a talking dog, an ape, and a pheasant. Together they built a ship to the Island of the Ogres. While there he defeated the ogres and freed the people they had enslaved. Overall, this book was interesting. It was a nice adventure, and was different than fairytales I was familiar with.

[Gabrielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had never heard of this story before. This book is about a wife and a husband who lost their children by orges. They one day found a peach and it had a child inside of it. The child grew up quickly. The boy set out with a pheasant, ape, and a dog. They found the orges and set all of the children free. This story teaches children about teamwork and bravery. It was a good story, but it wasn't one of my favorites.

[Kaitlyn Kluesner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting traditional literature that was not like normal fairy tales. The character, Peachboy, was adopted by an older couple who lost their child at a young age by ogres. Peachboy came to the couple through a peach, and grew very fast compared to others. He decides to go find the ogres and ends up taking a dog, pheasant, and an ape. They eventually work together to find the ogres.

[Megan Gavin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was interesting. This book was about a young boy, who was born from a peach, and went to go fight a large band of ogres who had captured many young children years before. I think this book would be good for a lesson on perseverance, determination, or hard work.

[Alli Trenkamp · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was very interesting. This book was about a young boy, who was born from a peach, and went to go fight a large band of ogres who had captured many young children years before. Fast read and interesting illustrations. Good lesson for hard work and determination.

[Nathaniel Buffington]

A Japanese coming-of-age story about a boy grown from a peach who must defend his parent's land from demons. A wonderful folktale to teach students about myths from around the world.

[Brittany Cullen]

This tale was really interesting. A woman found a peach and cut it in half and out came a boy. the boy grew really fast and moved out on his journey. he met a dog, ape, and pheasant that were all obedient to what he said and then he came across ogres. the ogres were actually all the children that had been stolen and held prisoner. the boy sealed the hole and the place grew beautiful again. Teaches about good teamwork and how to solve problems and being happy with your friends and family.

[Alex]

This is a book about a Japanese couple who lost their children when they were captured by the ogres. Then they found a giant peach in the river, and once again had themselves a son who eventually saved all of the captured people from the ogre island.

[Alicia Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

When a couple finds a peach floating in the river, they open it to find a baby boy in it. Momotaro grows up to be incredibly strong. He fights terrible daemons and saves the village from them.

[Dalton Dettbarn]

I thought this was different and interesting.