The first United States edition of James and the Giant Peach was illustrated by Nancy Ekholm Burkert. Her illustrations were widely praised as an excellent accompaniment to the children's story. Illustrations continued to appear in later editions of the novel, but different artists were used for each edition. Michael Simeon illustrated the first UK edition in 1961. Emma Chichester Clark illustrated the 1990 edition, Quentin Blake illustrated the United Kingdom 1995 edition, and Lane Smith illustrated the 1996 edition.
One popular recent illustrator of Dahl's novel was Lane Smith, an artist famous for quirky children's books such as The Stinky Cheese Man and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. The illustrations in Smith's version of the novel later became the basis for images in the animated movie James and the Giant Peach, after Disney bought the illustration rights to the story.