The Spiderwick Chronicles

Authors: Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black
Illustrators: Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black
Publisher and date of publication: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2003
Genre: Fantasy, Fiction
Grade Level: 2-3

In this first edition to the Spiderwick chronicles we are introduced to the Grace children. They are twins brothers Jared and Simon and the older sister Mallory. They just moved into their great aunt Lucinda's very old victorian style home. The moved their with their mother who felt it was time for a change since their father had just recently left them. Simon is really into animals, Mallory enjoys fencing and Jarred, well he is not quite sure what he likes to do. He recently got into a fight at his old school and the family thought that this move could be a news start for him. Once they moved into the house Jarred started hearing really creepy sounds. Well one night the Grace children decided to track down what they though was a squirrel. What they discovered was two things. FIrst they discovered some weird item stored inside the wall which they decided to take out and have a look at. The second thing they discovered was a dumbwaiter that lead to a secret office. They sent Jared up the dumbwaiter to check it out. To Jared's surprise he found a poem which he could not decipher and then in the dust he discover that someone or something had told him to watch his back. After that night weird things started happening to the grace family. Mallory woke up with her hair tided to the bed and one morning the kitchen had been turned upside down. The mother automatically assumed it was Jarred and he knew that something much more was going on inside the house. Jarred decided to check out the attic and when he did he slowly began to decipher the poem that he found which ultimately led him to discover Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You. It contained descriptions of all kinds or faeries and other creatures. Jarred because sure that there was a brownie in the house and he was the one who was causing all the trouble. The Grace children then decided that what they had found in the wall was the brownie's home. So they built him a new on and the mischief soon stopped. About a week later when they returned to the office they met a little man who told them to burn the book or it will soon bring you trouble....

I really enjoyed the first installment of the Spiderwick Chronicles. I had heard of the movie but was not sure what the books were about. In just a short amount of time the author was able to completely engage the reader into a journey that you can not wait to finish. What I really like about the story was that it is an easy read for younger children. It is the perfect size chapter book and the perfect length for those who are having trouble reading or do not like to read. It is long enough to hold their interest but not to long to bore them in the process. I am curious as to why the authors decided to do it in short installments instead of in one long book. Either way I think students will really enjoy it. Another things that I liked about it was that with three children as main characters it makes it easier for children in your class to relate to someone. Whenever they can connect to a character the interest level increases. These are just regular kids and they have no idea what they have just gotten themselves into. Throughout the book there were sketches of something that the author was trying to portray. I enjoyed these because it seemed like every time I was reading something interesting I could glance over to the next page and that is exactly the same image that they author was trying to capture. I think that having these brief sketches really adds character to the story. I also think students would enjoy it.

In the classroom you could talk about faeries, sibling relationships, adjusting to a new area or any of the other many themes in this book. I however would love to have fun with this book. In the book you learn about different types of faeries and they author provides am image of what they look like. I think it would be neat to either have the students draw a faerie that represents them or to make one up and give it different characteristics. Would they be good or bad, where would they live, what would they eat and all the other fun things that we learn about in the book. After they create their faerie you could have them write a short story about their faeries. Then you could compose them and create your own classroom field guild. It would be a lot of fun.