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This Months Book Review
Every month, the Children's Corner will one book, alternating between middle grade/picture book and young adult.
This month Children's Corner book: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. I'm pulling out an old review for this month. I have since read the second and third books in this series and will review them in the coming months.
This month Children's Corner book: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. I'm pulling out an old review for this month. I have since read the second and third books in this series and will review them in the coming months.
This story kind of reminded me of Big Fish. A father, or in this case a grandfather, tells these fantastical stories to his grandson. As a child, the grandson believes him, but as the kid grows up, he starts to doubt his grandfather's stories. Until one day, the grandson inadvertently meets the people with whom his grandfather's stories are about and finally believes.
I think what sets the book apart are the photographs mixed throughout the pages. When I first heard of this story and the technique used by the author to tell this story with photographs, I was intrigued. I picked up this book wanted to see how the author accomplished this task. I have to say, he did a good job with it.
I enjoyed the weird photos and constantly found myself flipping back to them to compare the kids descriptions with the corresponding photo. They were just quirky enough to work but not be too over the top.
The story was interesting as well. I did get lost in the story wanting to find out what happens to Jacob and the peculiar children. Guess I'll have to read the sequel (FYI, I already have).
Click here to purchase.
I think what sets the book apart are the photographs mixed throughout the pages. When I first heard of this story and the technique used by the author to tell this story with photographs, I was intrigued. I picked up this book wanted to see how the author accomplished this task. I have to say, he did a good job with it.
I enjoyed the weird photos and constantly found myself flipping back to them to compare the kids descriptions with the corresponding photo. They were just quirky enough to work but not be too over the top.
The story was interesting as well. I did get lost in the story wanting to find out what happens to Jacob and the peculiar children. Guess I'll have to read the sequel (FYI, I already have).
Click here to purchase.
Release Rotation: A List of Book Debuts
Click a book image to purchase on Amazon.
Releasing
May 5, 2020 |
Releasing
May 5, 2020 |
Releasing
May 5, 2020 |
Releasing
May 12, 2020 |
Releasing
May 19, 2020 |
Movie Adaptation Review
Stargirl
One of the things I loved about the book was the quirkiness of Stargirl and how she didn't care. Sure she had a moment f doubt when people started bullying her, but in the end she decided to stay true to herself. Some of this was lost in the movie.
Yes, it was still lighthearted, nostalgic and fun. But Stargirl wasn't as "over-the-top" as I had always pictured her. She still sang the ukulele (although, not to sing happy birthday to everyone, just to Leo). She still had her rat (though you only saw it twice in the movie) and she still brought team spirit to the school. But certain quirks were missing, like her happy wagon.
And the "bully/conform to norm" plot was rushed. The "bullying" was one scene at the Hot Seat show. The "conform to norm" was one outside park bench scene and a speech half scene. In less than 15 minutes, she was back to wanting to be herself. If I was a teen who saw only the movie, I wouldn't sympathize with her. "She only gave it two days," I would think. "What was so bad about those two days." And in the end, she was the one who broke up with Leo and not the other way around. This makes Stargirl the bad one who didn't give normal a chance, instead of Leo not giving weird a chance (as was the case in the book).
All in all, I think Disney could have done a little better. It's not a bad adaptation, but I felt that if they only took the time to really think about who Stargirl was in the book, the movie may have been just that much better,
To see a comparison of book vs. move, check out Elite Daily's review.
One of the things I loved about the book was the quirkiness of Stargirl and how she didn't care. Sure she had a moment f doubt when people started bullying her, but in the end she decided to stay true to herself. Some of this was lost in the movie.
Yes, it was still lighthearted, nostalgic and fun. But Stargirl wasn't as "over-the-top" as I had always pictured her. She still sang the ukulele (although, not to sing happy birthday to everyone, just to Leo). She still had her rat (though you only saw it twice in the movie) and she still brought team spirit to the school. But certain quirks were missing, like her happy wagon.
And the "bully/conform to norm" plot was rushed. The "bullying" was one scene at the Hot Seat show. The "conform to norm" was one outside park bench scene and a speech half scene. In less than 15 minutes, she was back to wanting to be herself. If I was a teen who saw only the movie, I wouldn't sympathize with her. "She only gave it two days," I would think. "What was so bad about those two days." And in the end, she was the one who broke up with Leo and not the other way around. This makes Stargirl the bad one who didn't give normal a chance, instead of Leo not giving weird a chance (as was the case in the book).
All in all, I think Disney could have done a little better. It's not a bad adaptation, but I felt that if they only took the time to really think about who Stargirl was in the book, the movie may have been just that much better,
To see a comparison of book vs. move, check out Elite Daily's review.
Adaptation to Watch this MOnth |
Adaptation News |
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The Willoughbys
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