Tales of the Peculiar

"The book you hold in your hands is meant for peculiar eyes only. If by chance you are not among the ranks of the anomalous, then please put this book back where you found it at once and forget this ever happened."

Luckily for me, I consider myself to be quite strange and carried on reading. This Grimm-inspired collection of fairytales is so inventive and enjoyable that I feel like I might have to go back and re-read [b:Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children|9460487|Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children, #1)|Ransom Riggs|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1472782916s/9460487.jpg|14345371] all over again. Not only has Riggs created several unique and heart-touching tales for this book show more (yeah, I almost cried a few times; SO WHAT), but a few of them are tied to actual historical events, making the Peculiar world seem all the more real. One of my favorite things in storytelling is when an author includes details from reality, allowing me to feel like maybe, just maaaaybe, the characters or places I'm reading about could actually exist. Or, in this case, that a group of human-hating pigeons caused The Great Fire of London in 1666. I mean, that's completely plausible, right? show less

This is, indeed, a perfect addition to the Peculiar series.

I was so excited to see that an edition of [b: Tales of the Peculiar|29358487|Tales of the Peculiar (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children, #0.5)|Ransom Riggs|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1493062288s/29358487.jpg|48156472] was being released. I loved the few stories we got to hear from it in the series, and was curious what more would be between those covers. Imagine my surprise to see that the book itself is gorgeous. Beautifully illustrated, hardcover, with a nice ribbon to mark your place... This is truly a prestigious kid's book, and I could see it being slotted in nicely next to a beautiful edition of, say, [b: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them|41899|Fantastic show more Beasts and Where to Find Them|Newt Scamander|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1303738520s/41899.jpg|4195128] on a kid's shelf. This would be one of those books the child would treasure and pore trough endlessly, and with the gorgeous illustrations and annotations why wouldn't you? The book welcomes it as much as the trilogy does with its found photographs.

The short stories are excellent and written in true folklore fashion. They carry the ambivalent endings and tough morals of Grimm and at times the melancholy and fantastical elements of Hans Christian Anderson. I found easy an easy favorite in "The Girl Who Could Tame Nightmares"although the alternative ending would be a bit much to swallow. "The Locust," "The Forked-Tongue Princess," and "The First Ymbryne" were all equally fascinating in their lessons. Not to mention "The Splendid Cannibals" was an absolutely hilarious and gruesome start to the book.

Overall, this is an excellent collection and a beautiful children's book. It would be even more wonderful read aloud and would make perfect bed-time stories. I've already at least one kid in mind who would be liable to get addicted to this long before she'd be old enough to read the full trilogy. show less

If the stories in Tales of the Peculiar are meant as instruction and/or comfort to Peculiar children, it says a lot about what such children can expect from 'normals'. More than one is given an alternate ending because the original is pretty sad. The story about the cannibals is the one I hated.

The newest addition in the wonderful universe of the Peculiar Children and their surroundings, created by Ransom Riggs, is every bit as interesting and special as Miss Peregrine's Trilogy. No. It's even better. You won't find our familiar Peculiars in this collection, what we see is their ancestors' struggle to cope with their talents and with the cruel ways society used to ostracize them. Our guide back in time is our beloved Millard...

''The Splendid Cannibals'': Cannibals are creepy and nightmarish. Sometimes ''ordinary'' humans are even worse.

''The Fork-Tongued Princess'': One of my favourite stories in the collection. Here, we have a princess with a special kind of beauty, unwilling to let men dictate her life. It reminded me of a show more well-known Russian fairy tale.

''The First Ymbryne'': A beautiful story about the First Ymbryne that created the very first timeloop. Set in Medieval England.

''The Woman Who Befriended Ghosts'': Such a funny, bittersweet story this one! Many times the substantial and insubstantial world can be equally harsh and frustrating.

''Cocobolo'': Fascinating Peculiars in ancient China, during the reign of Kublai Khan.

''The Pigeons of Saint Paul's'': I bow down to the genius that is Ransom Riggs in this story. Also, mental note: Raise head and say ''hello'' to the feathery friends next time I visit Saint Paul's Cathedral.

''The Girl Who Could Tame Nightmares'': A dark, ominous story. Is every gift - peculiar or not- a blessing or a curse? A coin of two faces? This is my favourite story in the collection.

''The Locust'': It doesn't matter how kind you are. People will always be cruel enough to keep on hurting those who are tender and gentle. People will always view kindness as weakness...

''The Boy Who Could Hold Back The Sea'': An atmospheric tale of the sea, coming from Ireland.

''The Tale of Cuthbert'': A tale of old, mixing echoes of Oscar Wilde and the myth of the giants made of stone from Yorkshire.

It's not necessary to have read the Trilogy of the Peculiar Children to enjoy this collection. I'm sure the tales are interesting enough to lure you all by themselves. Still, those who are already familiar with the World of the Peculiars will appreciate them even more. This magnificent universe is a never-ending source of great stories and beautiful themes. Enjoy! show less

I swear if Riggs had included more stories like this in his trilogy I would have ended up liking the series a lot better. We get to read about tales that are put together by one of the characters we read about in Miss Peregrine's series. "Tales of the Peculiar" is supposedly written by a former Miss Peregrine ward, Millard Nullings. I don't know if you all know about him. But he was the character that was invisible. I would suggest reading the series before this book since there is not that great of an introduction before you plunge into these tales.

The Splendid Cannibals (5 stars)-Definitely a cautionary tale about greed in this one. I did like the story of a village of peculiars selling their body parts (they grow back) to cannibals show more who tire of eating rotting body parts. I did laugh though at the villagers trying to one up each other with how stylish their homes were getting.

The Fork Tongued Princess (5 stars)-I would love to read a follow-up story about this character. A gorgeous princess with a forked tongue and scales being treated like a monster by her father and her fiancee. When she is revealed to be a monster, she eventually has to run away to seek a better life. She at one point says that she is through with princes, and when you see what she is put through, you can see why. It though is ultimately a tale of forgiveness.

The First Ymbryne (5 stars)-We find out about these birds that could become humans and how they changed life better for the peculiars. I loved reading about how loops were discovered. This could have been a really cool pre-cool book for the series. But I actually like it better as a short story.

The Woman Who Befriended Ghosts (4 stars)-An okay story, it was fairly short I thought. I loved the idea of a young woman who could see and speak to ghosts. She gets a pretty happy ending too.

Cocobolo (5 stars)-I don't want to give anything away. But I loved this one! So original and I was worried about how it would end, but it ended happily. I think.

The Pigeons of St. Paul's (3.5 stars)-Another short one compared to other stories. I think this was originally in one of the books. I don't feel like looking it up. Okay story, but compared to the other stories, not as great.

The Girl Who Could Tame Nightmares (5 stars)-This one made me shiver. Plus we got an alternate ending which was straight up horror when you read it. Loved it.

The Locust (4 stars)-This is a tale about loving your peculiar children or bad things can happen. I liked the ending though I was surprised Riggs didn't give us another alternative horror one after the last story.

The Boy Who Could Hold Back the Sea (4 stars)-I thought this was a pretty cool story. A boy who could control the sea and all of the problems it brings him.

The Tale of Cuthbert (3.5 stars)-Only because I read this before I think in book #2 of the series and I already knew how it ended.

I found the illustrations to be beautiful in this e-book. I would love to see the gold lettering and illustrations in a hardcover.

Loved this little trip back to Miss Peregrine and her children. show less

In much the same spirit as J.K. Rowlings The Tales of Beedle the Bard, this is meant to be a companion book of the fairy tales that peculiars learned as part of their peculiar folklore in the series Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.

The book is structured as authentically as possible, from the copyright page to the annotations by the editor/author/compiler of the stories, Millard Nullings, a name that might be familiar to the fans of Miss Peregrine's.

The stories themselves really are morality tales and suitable for non-peculiar children too, no matter what Nullings claims (although i didn't try to read the third one backwards, out loud, so I can't speak as to the authenticity of his dire warnings). Some of them work better show more than others, just like most collections of stories, but most of them were good and a couple were great. A few petered out before they could get started.

My favourites were probably The Splendid Cannibals and the Girl Who Could Tame Nightmares.

The book is beautifully illustrated and it's definitely something I'd read to my nieces when they get a little bit older. show less

"Sharing his secret had only ever caused him trouble"

Love these little fairy tales. It's like the morals we all know - only turned into Peculiar stories. Full of children with interesting talents and judgement from everyone around them.
I like the twist on the stories and the interesting slant. Many were about love and respect and the want to not be lonely. I liked the addition to the series.