Well, when the opportunity presents itself in the form of a graphic novel, well it is well worth revisiting a book that was so enjoyable in its original (rather quirky) form. So of course I had to request the graphic novel version of Ransom Riggs’ Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. It was more than enjoyable with a few differences from the original that I will warn right now could be SPOILERS for said original (and this version as well). So proceed at your own risk!

Some of the pictures that were used in the original are cropped slightly and definitely not sitting on pages all alone, I found this did lesson their impact. BUT on the flip side, I absolutely LOVED the way the artist (Cassandra Jean) drew the main character Jacob. The way she drew his eyes and his demeanor really embraced the emotional stress he was under, the feeling of imminent danger and unrest is palpable. 

I love the colour palate the artist chose, and her use of it in a situation specific manner (man is it difficult to talk about a graphic novel and not spill too much information). I will say there is less background on the characters shared and a few characters are completely written out… the friend, the “normal” is not mentioned in any detail, the family history and the chain of drugstores Jacob’s mother is to inherit only barely touched upon. This does not take away from the story in a grand sense, but for someone who enjoys the minute details… definitely read the original first. 

I think  you could read the graphic novel and feel you really understood and enjoyed the story, but my own preference would be to read the original and then enjoy the graphic novel for its images more than its story content. This does put my back up further against watching the movie. Tim Burton or not, the original story is AMAZING and I don’t wish to be disappointed. 

Sadly I do not have the second graphic novel available through the library yet… but I will keep an eye peeled. Hollow City was an amazing read and I have Library of Souls on hold request at the library. So do check back for my further impressions! 

It is RARE that I will EVER give the kids an extended lunch or a half day but this was the book to do it! Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs was one of those books. A young adult book, this fantasy utilizes old found photographs combined with a compelling story and characters you get to see to believe. There are so many haunting elements to this story… an abandoned orphanage… a mysterious island… tragedies both fresh and long gone… harking back to the second world war in fact! And to be faced with images that illustrate the story as if they were taken by someone for the story instead of the story written around… eerie and marvelous.

I don’t want to share too much, and really, this is a book to be read without knowing much at all to get the full impact… but though the main character (Jacob) is a teenage boy and it is ALL through his point of view I was totally sucked into the story from the very first page. 

Jacob’s grandfather was around his age during the second world war, he was sent away by his parents to an island in Wales as they were Polish Jews. His stories from his time on the island are mysterious and magical… and to Jacob, completely unbelievable. That is, until tragedy hits the family and Jacob begins his adventure to find out the truth. This leads him right to Miss Peregrine’s orphanage. 

The Images Ransom Riggs uses are haunting, sweet, mysterious, confusing, false looking, spooky… perfect. After I read the story I HAD to go through and glance at them again. The story itself was gripping, and I found myself sometimes reading character descriptions multiple times as Jacob comes across more and more peculiar individuals.

I have already put a request on book two – Hollow City and once I receive that one plan to request the third book… Library of Souls. Tim Burton IS coming out with a movie for this book (this is part of why a friend brought it to my attention), but my capacity for scary is much higher in books than in movies… so we shall see!

While I will not be letting the twins read this quite yet, it is definitely a book I will want to have them read in the future. You do need to have some knowledge of the second world war to truly understand the grandfather and the situations the orphanage was in, but other than that… there is a fantastic world of amazingly peculiar children in these pages! You really MUST check it out!