Read by Simon Callow, Bruce Mann and Garrick Hagon - they did a rather nice job! As before, I feel sorry for the poor, lonely giant. The Tale of Cuthbert - A fleshing out of the Cuthbert tale from the first peculiar book. It was an okay story, a bit dull after the first few pages. The Boy Who Could Hold Back The Sea - A dire warning about sharing powers with those who are willing and able to take advantage of them. Thus, the boy becomes the creatures and can only be saved is someone could love the true him. The Locust - A boy who cared so much living creatures has a father who refused to see creatures as something to be loved.

The little girl can help people by plucking out their nightmares - but such a terrible power comes with a truly awful price.

The Girl Who Could Tame Nightmares - I appreciated the creepiness of this one and the lesson that not all peculiars are blessed with fun, quirky powers. The Pigeons of Saint Paul's - This is the one from the main series. Rather interesting tale but it was so sad at the end. And soon find himself being lost to the sea as well. So she shops around - looking for the most haunted areas - so she could have company.Ĭocobolo - Set in ancient China, a boy loses his father to the sea. She's grown now but doesn't want to spend time with the living. The Woman Who Befriended Ghosts - Hildy spent her childhood in the company of her ghost-sister. Nice story, but it wasn't particularly interesting. The First Ymbryne - Medieval England tale - the very first Ymbryne discovers her power and her destiny. Despite this being a short story, I was really impressed by the development of the main character. The Fork-Tongued Princess - A princess with a forked-tongue learns several lessons about life and love.

Soon comes a story of greed and loss -though not on the side you'd think. A group of hungry cannibals move in next door and are willing to pay. The Splendid Cannibal - A population of peculiars can regrow limbs at will. As with the original series, the powers are inventive, the plot is quirky and the stories are fun. There weren't as many stories as I expected (only 10). Throughout the Peculiar Children series, they refer to this storybook. I am (generally) not a fan of tie-in novels but consider me converted.

Tales of the peculiar book