Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Over Thanksgiving break, Mrs. Edwards got busy reading this graphic novel and forgot all about feeding me one day.  It must’ve been a really good book indeed.  She mentioned that she has never read a graphic novel prior to this, and she very thoroughly enjoyed it.  I checked it out and was pleasantly surprised by the ease and creativity with this novel.  I enjoyed the illustrations as they seemed to tell the story even without some of the text.  I wish I could draw like that, but alas I have found that ‘water-based’ paint means something different…

In Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, the story is similar to the Princess Bride and Tim Burton’s Big Fish.  The story begins with a grandfather regaling his grandson Jacob with tales from his own childhood.  Similar to those stories in Big Fish the stories are of fantastical things and people with extraordinary abilities.  Jacob assumes that his grandfather is exaggerating everything for entertainment purposes.  As he gets older, however, Jacob questions the validity of the stories, so his grandfather stops talking about it.  But, when Jacob is 15, his world is turned upside down when his grandfather is murdered by a ‘monster.’

Jacob thought he saw the ‘monster’ the night his grandfather died, but his description was so ridiculous that he was sent to see a psychiatrist.  It was during his psychiatric sessions that began finding clues to mysterious things his grandfather had told him, and was encouraged by his psychiatrist to seek answers at the island his grandfather stayed for so many years.  It is here that Jacob discovers much more than he was ever prepared for.  

This is an outstanding book for classes when discussing exaggeration.  The artistic renditions add so much depth to the storyline, that I could see a great collaboration happening between English and art teachers to create a book or story for classes.

Works Cited

“Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.” (2011). Ransomriggs.com. JPEG file.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children: Director’s Cut. (2011, June 7). Retrieved from <https://youtu.be/wVegDhDxLeU>.