The Spiderwick Chronicles (Boxed Set): The Field Guide; The Seeing Stone; Lucinda's Secret; The Ironwood Tree; The Wrath of Mulgrath [Hardcover]

 

 

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This is a great series of book for young children. Shorter than Harry Potter, longer than toddler books, these are great individual stories that add up to a great series. They are similar to the movie, but there's enough that's different to make them worth reading. In fact, I preferred them to the movie, as did the kids. That's a strong recommendation in my books. There are individual reviews of the books out there, so I'll just say that the basic premise is that a group of siblings moves into an old ancestor's house and find a guide to faeries. Yes, faeries are real, and that discovery both opens up new options and gets them into real trouble. The stories are fun to read, involve lots of action, and are at most, PG for a touch of violence. They are a little scary in places, but not enough that I'd worry about nightmares. The kids (two twin boys and their older sister) are believable and interesting, and the writing is suitable for 6-12 year olds.

The books have lots of illustrations in each chapter, and have a couple of color illustrations. The books are of good quality, and give the appearance of being made from older scrap paper. The box is nice, and it all adds up to a nice product. Given the price savings of buying the set as a whole rather than the individual books, this is definitely a great buy for parents and kids alike.

This is one continuous story split into books. The books are so interesting that you are better off getting the whole series at once.

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The Field Guide

Really spooky

The book is the first of five books that constitute one story that is divided up in to bite size books that again are divided up in to bite size chapters. Be sure to read all the periphery notes and charts left in the book. And if you are reading out loud to someone you may want to show them the pictures.

The author really knows how to write creepy stories. It makes you want to sleep with one eye open. There is nothing cutesy yet on the other hand there is not violence for violence sake. The story just squeezes into the realm of possibilities. However it takes an evil mind to write these chronicles. One good advantage is that they are short and to the point enough to holds your attention and then be over before you realized what happened.

Three children (Mallory, Jared and their younger brother, Simon) and their mother move in to a new home (O.K. shack... O.K. more like several shacks staked on top of each other.) There they find strange noises in the walls. Perusing the source of the noises and with the use of a dumbwaiter they locate a secret library and you guessed it a riddle that may lead to "The Field Guide." There is an out write warning that if they find it to get rid of it. However the story is fascinating. All of this comes at a price. I do not want to elaborate but if you have long hair or a suspicious mother then I suggest you read with caution.

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The Seeing Stone

Watch your cat

The author really knows how to write creepy stories. It makes you want to sleep with one eye open. There is nothing cutesy like Harry Potter and or ridiculously dumb like the "So You Want to Be a Wizard" series. This is more in the vein of Lemony Snicket. It just squeezes into the realm of possibilities. However it takes an evil mind to write these chronicles. One good advantage is that they are short and to the point enough to holds your attention and them be over before you realized what happened.

By now you are familiar with Mallory, Jared and his young twin brother, Simon. We also know about the discovery of The Field Guide. After the introduction of Brownie named Thimbletack we also need to reevaluate the statements of Aunt Lucinda.

The cat is missing. Naturally the siblings ignore Thimbletack's warning about The Field Guide. Yep, tasty Simon has been kidnapped by unseen goblins. Now his brother and sister must save him before he becomes Goblin Chow. To do this they must first obtain "The Seeing Stone."
Will they save Simon?
What creatures will they encounter?
Why is Mallory all wet?
What is that aroma of roasting ...?

According to Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi, the text of this story was left for them by three mystery kids.

With that stab at blurring the boundaries between fantasy and reality, these two authors slip easily into a haunted house tale that rapidly blossoms into a story of hidden fae and strange creatures. "The Spiderwick Chronicles (Boxed Set)" brings together five extremely brief little books that form one overarcing story, which becomes more tense and eerie as it winds to the inevitable battle with the Big Bad.

After their parents' divorce, the Grace kids -- teenage Mallory and nine-year-old twins Jared and Simon -- move with their mother to a crumbling old Victorian house, owned by a weird old aunt. Jared is having a rough time with all of this, but he's distracted from his personal woes by a "squirrel" scuttling around inside the walls. And their investigations reveal a strange little stash of items that were obviously not taken by a squirrel.

An exploratory trip in a dumbwaiter takes Jared to a hidden library full of strange books on mythic creatures -- and soon strange things start happening to the family. Jared's further investigations uncover a strange little book called "Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide To The Fantastical World Around You," a little guide to faery creatures. Jared begins to believe that the unbelievable might be true -- that there are faeries causing trouble in his new home.

But it becomes painfully obvious what is up when various creatures try to get ahold of the book -- Simon is kidnapped by omnivorous goblins, a search for Arthur Spiderwick leads the kids into a elven trap deep in the woods, and Mallory is sealed in a glass box by malevolent dwarves deep inside an old quarry. But the one who really wants the Guide is Mulgarath, a terrible creature who (surprise!) wants to conquer the world -- and he'll take their mother to accomplish it.

For the record, this is a short series full of short books. Each book is only about a hundred pages of heavily-illustrated text, and we're not talking large pages. They're more like the chapters of a longer novel, meaning that older children and adults will find them ultra-quick and simple.

But Holly Black's writing style definitely makes it worth reading (such as the descriptions of stalactites "hanging above them like a forest of icicles"). Though the storyline is pretty simple, she weaves a web of subtle, eerie strangeness around the seemingly ordinary circumstances (such as elderly, seemingly batty Aunt Lucinda), to the point where you can almost believe that missing cats were eaten by hobgoblins.

And despite the Victorian house, the sprites and faery creatures here are anything but Victorian -- sometimes ugly, bizarre or malicious, and with their own strange ways (the beautiful, ruthless elves) and preoccupation (the dwarves' obsession with making forests of "ironwood" trees). And there are plenty of weird side-creatures: lake trolls, fey doppelgangers, metal dogs, haughty nature-robed elves, a "knocker" who escorts the kids underground, and so on.

And Tony DiTerlizzi's artwork is simply perfect for the story that he and Black are telling. He crafts lots of intricate pen-and-ink drawings, shadowy depictions of the decayed Victorian mansion, and illustrations of the weirder aspects of the Spiderwick estate (like the dusty library, or Mallory suspended in a glass box in medieval clothes). There are even pages and scribbled-on pages from Arthur Spiderwick, expulsion notices, and more.

The main characters are also quite believable: Mallory is a loving but slightly brittle teenager, and the mom is clearly struggling to stay afloat after her divorce. Simon is a tidy animal enthusiast, while the more prominent Jared is a kid who is starting to sink into trouble after his parents' divorce, only to find new and unexpected strength when he discovers the world of the Guide. The biggest problem is that the kids bicker a lot, which becomes a bit tedious after awhile -- even if it is likely.

"The Spiderwick Chronicles" is a solid brief story spread over five small books, building up a sense of suspense, eerie fantasy and otherworldly creatures. Beautifully written if a wee bit simple for older readers.

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