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By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: March 1, 2012

Here’s the scoop on the most popular destinations on The Children’s Book Review site, the most coveted new releases and bestsellers.

Award-Winning Illustrator Marla Frazee & the Best Interview Ever

Author Interview: Gary Paulsen

Newbery Medal Winners, 2012

How Picture Books Play a Role in a Child’s Development

Wonderful Winter Books for Kids

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THE NEW RELEASES

The most coveted books that release this month:

The Berenstain Bears: We Love Our Mom!

by Jan Berenstain

(Ages 3-7)

Tickle Time!: A Boynton on Board Board Book

by Sandra Boynton

(Ages 0-3)

Secret Agent Splat!

by Rob Scotton

(Ages 3-7)

Big Nate Goes for Broke

by Lincoln Peirce

(Ages 8-12)

Chomp

by Carl Hiaasen

(Ages 10-12)

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THE BEST SELLERS

The best selling children’s books this month:

PICTURE BOOKS

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Dark Shadows director Tim Burton may direct a film adaptation of Ransom Riggs‘ Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children.

According to Deadline, Peter Chernin, Dylan Clark and Jenno Topping will produce the film. Riggs released his YA novel back in June and has since gone on a “whirlwind trip around the country” in search of more peculiar photos for a planned sequel.

Here’s more from the article: “[The book stars] Jacob, a 16-year-old whose childhood was filled with stories his grandfather told him about an orphanage for unusual children. Among the residents: a girl who could hold fire in her hands, another whose feet never touched the ground, and twins who communicated without speaking.”

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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I had heard so much that was so good about A Monster Calls, the Patrick Ness novel inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd, that last night, when my arms were too achy to type a single letter more, I downloaded the book onto my iPad2.

Had I known that this book was so beautifully illustrated, I would have gone out to the store and bought myself a copy instead, so that I could, from time to time, look at these extraordinarily interesting, wildly textured Jim Kay drawings.  A Monster Calls would be a very different book without these images, just as Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, the Ransom Riggs books enlivened by surreal old photographs, would not be the book it is had not a publishing house decided that teens, too (and the adults who inevitably read teen books) need, every now and then, to stop and see the world not through words but through images.  Maile Meloy's new historical YA book, The Apothecary, is due out soon—a book that (if the preview pages on Amazon are accurate) features some very beautiful illustrations by Ian Schoenherr.  And let's not forget The Boneshaker by Kate Milford, with its beautiful Andrea Offermann images. (And, of course, there are so many, many more.)

A Monster Calls reminds me, in so many ways, of the great Roald Dahl story The BFG.  Dahl's books, illustrated by Quentin Blake, sit beside The Phantom Tollbooth (Norton Juster, illustrated by Jules Feiffer) on my shelf—books that take me back to some of my favorite mother-son reading days.  We loved the stories.  We loved the illustrations, too.  We loved the entire package.

Maybe we have Brian Selznick to thank for this return to the visual—to ageless picture books.  Maybe it was just plain time.  I only (with absolute surety) know this:  I recently completed a young adult novel amplified by (in my eyes) gorgeous illustrations. I can't wait to see where that project goes, and on what kind of journey it takes me.

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I’m not happy to admit the rest of the world is kicking our ass in literature. Of my current four favorite authors, THREE of them are from overseas: Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Angel’s Game) is Spanish, Erin Kelly (The Poison Tree) is English, Felix Palma (Map of Time) is Spanish, and thank goodness, Ransom Riggs (Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children) is American. These odds are not good, and I have a feeling American writing will soon be extinct simply because it cannot stand up to the Europeans.

I came to this conclusion after finishing the recently released Map of Time by Felix Palma, because frankly, his book blew my mind. If I’d read up on the guy, I should have seen this coming. He’s been publishing since 1998, in Spanish, of course. Based on the descriptions of his books, he resembles our generation’s H.G. Wells (more on him later). Map of Time won the Ateneo de Sevilla Award in 2008, and it’s his first (and only) book published in the United States.

The cover is enough to make you want to buy the book, but the synopsis on the front flap ain’t bad either: “Set in Victorian London with characters real and imagined, The Map of Time is a page-turner that boasts a triple play of intertwined plots in which a skeptical H.G. Wells is called upon to investigate purported incidents of time travel and to save lives and literary classics, including Dracula and The Time Machine, from being wiped from existence.” There are cameos by Jack the Ripper and the Elephant Man, too, and much discussion over a supposed “fourth dimension.”

Not only is the story of interest to fans of science fiction, history, or romance, the narrative voice—reminiscent of another European, J.K. Rowling—is whimsical and relaxed. Palma utilizes a third-person omniscient perspective. He sees into the heads of multiple characters at one time, and he often converses with you—the reader. For instance, “I shall take the opportunity to welcome you to this tale, which has just begun, and which after lengthy reflection I chose to begin at this juncture and not another.” Wonderful!

Be prepared to deeply consider the ramifications of time travel. If you’re not prepared to do so, you’re not prepared to read Map of Time. Palma is not only a master of the written word, but he’s a science fiction genius, to have thought up the questions posed by time travel. He posits that we each determine our current dimension while, possibly, we also live on in other dimensions via the choices we did not make. In the words of Jack Kerouac, “What is waiting for me in the direction I don’t take?” It’s a serious mind-f@#%, for reader and fictional character alike, and it’s worth every word on every page.

I could tell you more about the plotline, but eh, I don’t want to ruin it for you. I will say that I felt personally connected to Map of Time because, with a lead character like H.G. Wells, it has a lot to do with the life of a writer and artistic self-loathing. I will also say that if American authors don’t want to be left in the lurch, we better up our game—fast. I leave you with some wisdom from Palma’s protagonist, H.G. W

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The bad news is, Harry Potter is ending. The books, the movies, all finished, as of July 15th. The good news? I’ve found a new series, and it has only just begun with the first of what could possibly be many: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.

I stumbled upon this creepy tale via a book trailer. It was the kind of trailer that excited me and made me want to read the book, immediately. Unfortunately, it came out the day after my birthday, so I had to wait three extra days to get my final gift in the mail from Amazon. I was not disappointed.

The cover depicts a young girl, dressed in 1940s attire and a tiara. At first glance, she’s just standing there in the woods, staring at you. At second glance you realize she’s floating a couple inches above the ground, standing in the woods, staring at you. Either way, it makes an impression. The interior is no different. The pages are thick and soft to the touch, and dispersed amidst the words are freaky photos of other children doing strange—or peculiar—things, like one child holding a huge rock over his head or another holding flames in her hand. You want to read this book; it’s too unusual to put down.

The story of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children focuses on sixteen-year-old Jacob and his grandfather, Abe. Ever since Jacob was a child, Grandpa Abe told stories about “the peculiar children” back in Abe’s old country, on an island off the coast of Wales. Abe lived with the children and their headmistress, Miss Peregrine, after fleeing his home country to escape the Nazis.

Among the peculiar children were an invisible boy, a girl who could fly, and a child covered in bees. Abe even had pictures to prove it, even though Jacob always assumed the stories—and photos—were fake. That is until Grandpa Abe dies under mysterious circumstances, which sends Jacob to his grandpa’s island in search of answers … and perhaps, something peculiar.

The pictures set the tone, but the words paint the picture. Author Ransom Riggs is a filmmaker, first and foremost. This is his first novel, although he previously wrote a nonfiction book about Sherlock Holmes. Even though this is a debut, it doesn’t feel like a debut. Riggs is comfortable with prose and the stepping-stones of good storytelling. In other words, he does a lot of showing, not telling … but he never shows you too much, because Miss Peregrine is written as a mystery. It’s also a bit science fiction, a bit horror. You have to wrap your mind around time-travel, and yes, you might not want to read this book at night—but read it you must.

I’m not ruining anything by telling you the end is not the end. I’m not sure what Riggs has planned, but there is much more to be told about the peculiar children. In this work, he created an amazing cast of characters, each with their own quirks and “super powers.” It would be a tragedy to create this world and not play with it, hopefully for several books to come.

In a world filled with to-be-continued vampire books and witch novels, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children stands out because it is original. It is extraordinary in its different-ness. That is the hook. Not only is it a

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