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Back in August of this year Travis Jonker wrote a great post on 100 Scope Notes called The Most Astonishingly Unconventional Children’s Books of 2016.  It was an excellent post, really getting into the nitty gritty of what it is that makes a book “unconventional”.  My list is a little different from Travis’s, though there’s definitely some overlap.  Regardless, here are the books that just strike me as so unique and strange and wild and wonderful that they could only be published in the 21st century:

Oddest Children’s Books of 2016

Arnold’s Extraordinary Art Museum by Catherine Ingram, ill. Jim Stoten

Have you ever read a book and wondered partway through if it was actually a huge in-joke that you, the reader, are just completely unaware of?  Now there are a LOT of things I like about Ingram’s title.  She great on individual characters.  She incorporates a lot of real art into the text and images that doesn’t tend to get highlighted in other “art” books for kids.  But it never got any professional reviews that I can find, possibly because reviewers didn’t know what to do with the darn thing.  Thank goodness for the blog Playing by the Book.  There  you will find a review that explains precisely why you will love the book and the truly awesome crafts you can create from it (make your own Bauhaus Metal Party of 1929!!).

The Birth of Kataro by Shigeru Mizuki

Okay. I failed to properly explain this book when it appeared on the international import list the other day so let me see if I can do so now.  Basically, these comics celebrate a form of Japanese storytelling that is virtually unknown here in the States.  The “yokai” are defined as Japanese ghosts or monsters, but that’s only part of the story.  They’ve a long and storied history which I highly recommend you read up on if you’ve a chance.  As for these books, Kitaro is a yokai who is accompanied by his tiny eyeball father, Medama Oyaji (seen in his pre-eyeball form on the cover here) to do battle with a variety of different monsters.  Right.  So we’re all clear then.

The Heartless Troll by Øyvind Torseter

This was also mention on the international list (don’t worry – we’ve plenty of homegrown oddities here as well) and in that post I mentioned that the story involves a young man (sorta) on a quest.  He needs to rescue his brothers, I believe, from a troll.  The troll has also captured a princess, but to free her is mighty difficult.  I never showed you what the troll looks like.  Here you go:

Sleep tight tonight!

The Liszts by Kyo Maclear, ill. Julia Sarda

Dour and dire and wonderful.  The kind of book that reminds you of a slightly more perky Edward Gorey, if he were to be combined with, say, Lisa Brown.  This is one of those books that appeared on Travis’s list as well, and one of his commenters wrote, “I’m giving it extra points for also including a photo of Sigourney Weaver in Alien on the “heroes” wall. Though what Mary Poppins did to get on the “villains” wall, we may never know.”  I couldn’t have put it better myself.  It’s utterly charming in its weirdness.  I’m a big fan.

Margarash by Mark Riddle, ill. Tim Miller

My kids love this book.  No.  They do.  They LOVE this book.  And since it was published by Enchanted Lion Press, you’d be forgiven for thinking it to be an import.  You’d be wrong, but you’d be forgiven.  The story involves a monster that lives beneath all the couch cushions in the world, taking and keeping the loose change he finds.  There’s even a catchy little chant, “The coins that fall are for Margarash / Margarash / Margarash / The coins that fall are for Margarash / Leave them where they lie.”  I have it memorized.

My Baby Crocodile by Gaetan Doremus

Did I mention before how I honestly cannot read the title of this book without putting the words to the tune of “My Funny Valentine”?  The tale of a nearsighted crocodile that adopts a knight in armor because it has mistaken him for a baby crocodile is so strangely touching.  It doesn’t start that way, mind you.  No, at the beginning you’re pretty sure something weird is going on.  Weird and unnerving.  It’s only as you really get into the storyline that things start to fall into place.

Pinocchio: The Origin Story by Alessandro Sanna

If you know the Pinocchio story it won’t help you too much.  I mean, sure, you’d get more of the references than someone who walked in blind.  But this wordless little creation is such a strange mix of elements.  You’re left never quite knowing if you’re supposed to connect emotionally to the characters.  Beautiful art anyway, and no one can argue with that.

This Is Not a Book by Jean Jullien

There’s a butt.

That is all.

The Worst Breakfast by China Meiville, ill. Zak Smith

Huh!  China Meiville?  Wrote a picture book?  I knew he did a middle grade fantasy once but this is new.  In this book two sisters discuss a breakfast that beats any and all records for the worst breakfast of all time.  The art?  Not to my taste, but the text is remarkable.  I love books that get a little crazy and turn into true brouhahas.  This one fits the bill.

Interested in the other lists of the month? Here’s the schedule so that you can keep checking back:

In the past I’ve done posts about Weirdo Picture Books and others on Out-of-Print Crimes Against Humanity.  Today’s featured book could have fallen into both categories, were it not for the fact that there is justice in the universe.  Previously out of print, 1997′s A Small Miracle by Peter Collington is back by popular demand and now available from Knopf in paperback.  And well it should be.  There’s a reason it was featured in the Publishers Weekly 12th Annual Off-the-Cuff Awards as booksellers’ Book We’re Sorriest to See Go Out of Print.

Here is the plot of the book as described in the SLJ review:

“An old woman, living alone in a trailer, spends her days playing an accordion on the street for money. But times are especially difficult, even in this middle-class town. Desperate, she sells her accordion for cash, only to have it stolen by a masked bandit who then pilfers the poor box from the local church and vandalizes its manger scene. Intercepting the thief, the woman is able to return the money and does her best to set the scene to rights. Then, exhausted and hungry, she collapses in the snow. The manger figures come to life and take her home, where they all pitch in to see that she has her accordion back and that she has food. It’s all part of the miracle that none of the merchants or townspeople are at all surprised at the sight of the small figures making deals at the pawn shop or prowling the aisles at the supermarket.”

I’m glad they mentioned the supermarket because that may have been the point in the book when it totally won me over.  Stealing from old ladies can be pretty dark stuff, and the elderly collapsing in the snow is worse, but there’s something so ridiculously charming about the tiny creche figures pushing shopping carts down fluorescent lighted lanes that you can’t help but give in to it.

I wish I could find an image of the shopping scene because it really is worth it.  The book is just chock full of these small details that make you want to read and reread the story.  There is, for example, the fact that Mary is always holding the Baby Jesus, but that doesn’t get in the way of her helping out.  Though obviously she’s not able to remove the old woman from the snow with the other guys, note that she’s holding their Three Kings gifts, crooks, etc. while they take care of things.  You know what the book really reminded me of?  The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.  It’s that remarkable combination of humor and affection and an honestly religious tone.  This is a straight up Christian Christmas book.  Really good ones are out there, but they’re often a bit more difficult to find than you’d think.  This is one of the few.

And who is Peter Collington?  Well, according to his website he’s an Englishman residing in Dorset. In his picture books he prefers a kind of wordless paneled technique reminiscent of folks like Raymond Briggs.  As far as I can ascertain he’s done a lot of other things lately, but not so much in the way of picture books.  He seems to have stopped sometime around the late 90s.  If anyone knows more about him, I’d love to hear it.

So there you go.  Should you feel inclined to locate a weirdly touching little wordless tale for your holiday enjoyment, seek thee this puppy.  I guarantee it’s like nothing you’ve read.  And should you have other odd holiday books you’d like to give a shout out to, feel free to list them in the comments here.

For the record, someone did turn this book into a short film, but I feel like the weirdness of the book is completely lost in the translation.  Still, if you’re curious you can go here.

Thanks to Alison Morris for the introduction to this book!