Genre 6 - Fantasy- Book 1

Fantasy Book Review

The Spiderwick Chronicles:The Field Guide

By: Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Black, Holly and Tony DiTerlizzi. 2003. THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES: THE FIELD GUIDE. New York: Simon & Schuster Books. ISBN 0689859368

PLOT SUMMARY

Everything is changing for the Grace children. First their parents divorce, then they have to leave their New York home and move into their great-aunt Lucinda’s house. The only problem was that it was old, huge and dilapidated. Jared Grace “looked up at it and squinted. Maybe it would look better blurry.” He tried to keep his chin up because this was going to be a fresh start for the family. But, the looks of this old house was not the only problem….the kids believe that they are not alone and there are noises in the walls. That first night at the Spiderwick Estates strange things start to happen to the Grace children, Jared, Simon and Mallory. The children explore the Victorian house where they uncover an odd book which takes them into a secret world of fairies and brownies.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black take their readers into the fantasy world of the Spiderwick Estates. Before readers start their journey they are greeted with a letter from the authors and one from the Grace children stoking the flames of what lies within the invisible world. The readers are drawn to a whimsical map of the Spiderwick Estates where their minds can race with what excitement might live among the vast estate. DiTerlizzi and Black do a nice job presenting characters that children can connect too. Whether it is Simons collecting “Tadpoles” or having pet mice “Lemondrop and Jeffrey”, to Mallory having a hobby of fencing and sympathizing with Jared’s personal struggles to overcome his parent’s divorce. By having such normal, relatable children as characters makes the reader just wonder if there could be a secret world. There are ink drawings scattered through out the book that only leave the reader wanting more glimpses into the secret world. This fast paced novel leaves the readers with a cliff hanger, with this warning from a befriended “Bogart”- “Be it through violence or through charm. Throw the book away, toss it in a fire. If you do not heed, you will draw their ire.” Willl the Grace children return the field journal as warned? This will have all readers in search of the next Spiderwick Chronicle book.

REVIEW EXCERPTS
Kirkus- Readers who are too young to read Harry Potter independently will find these have just the right amount of menace laced with appealing humor and are blessed with crisp pacing and, of course, DiTerlizzi's enticingly Gothic illustrations

Library Media Connection- This novel is written with imagery and interesting vocabulary, allowing the young reader to love the story while building reading skills

CONNECTIONS
Have your class make a field guide about your school.
Have the students create their own imaginary world that lives in their school walls.
Other Books In the Spiderwick Chronicles Series

DiTerlizzi, Tonny and Holly Black. The Seeing Stone. ISBN 0689859376.
DiTerlizzi, Tonny and Holly Black. Lucinda’s Stone . ISBN 0689859384.