Introduction
Title: Tales of the Peculiar
Author: Ransom Riggs
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Fable
Release Date: September 3, 2016
Synopsis (from Amazon):
Before Miss Peregrine gave them a home, the story of peculiars was written in the Tales.
Wealthy cannibals who dine on the discarded limbs of peculiars. A fork-tongued princess. These are but a few of the truly brilliant stories in Tales of the Peculiar—the collection of fairy tales known to hide information about the peculiar world, including clues to the locations of time loops—first introduced by Ransom Riggs in his #1 bestselling Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series.
Riggs now invites you to share his secrets of peculiar history, with a collection of original stories in this deluxe volume of Tales of the Peculiar, as collected and annotated by Millard Nullings, ward of Miss Peregrine and scholar of all things peculiar. Featuring stunning illustrations from world-renowned woodcut artist Andrew Davidson this compelling and truly peculiar anthology is the perfect gift for not only fans, but for all booklovers.
Why I Think Boys May Enjoy This
For anyone who read the rest of the Miss Peregrine series, this book is a delight. Much like the Fantastic Beasts spin-off for Harry Potter, Tales of the Peculiar brings to life a book referenced inside the stories for us to read as its own book. The fables inside this collection are intended to teach lessons to peculiar children (not the normal ones like us), with stories ranging from lessons on greed, humility, and compassion… the same way collections like Aesop’s Fables teach the rest of us.
I am a huge fan of the footnotes and “in character” storytelling aspect of things. Millard Nullings, the invisible boy from the original trilogy (and well known historian among the peculiar children under Miss Peregrine’s wing) is the curator of the anthology. The in character aspect adds an extra level of flair, in the same way that Lemony Snicket as an in-character narrator adds to uniqueness of the Series of Unfortunate Events books or Bartimaeus’s footnotes in The Amulet of Samarkand.
My favorite story was probably the one about the cannibals, which was the lead story in the collection. It really set the pace for both the specificity of peculiar issues the children who would be told these stories would need to know. There is also some great background and tie-ins with the events of the books, and that is always fun! Definitely worth a read for fans of the Miss Peregrine books!
Content/Appropriateness
They are stories written as fables for peculiar children so, as such, they are more than appropriate for regular children. Granted, regular children don’t often have to deal with unique powers or being able to regrow limbs, making them ideal candidates for a symbiotic relationship with cannibals. There are similar lessons throughout, sometimes landing the protagonist of the story in a bad spot, but nothing that would preclude children of any age from being able to enjoy the stories as they are told.
Rating
Buy Links
Amazon
