James was born into the Henry Trotter family at a lighthouse in England. During his childhood he once slept with his parents which would make him feel depressed several years later. On his fourth birthday, James looked with his parents in the sky guessing what the clouds looked like. His father asked him if he could see the Empire State Building like cloud, and his mother tells him that he should try looking at it another way when he couldn't find it causing him to turn his head and find it. His father told him that they were going to move to New York across the ocean and see the city and make friends there. However, before the day would come, James' parents were consumed by The Rhino causing him to live at his cruel aunts' house.