The Spiderwick Chronicles Box Set (The Spiderwick Chronicles, #1-5)

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The Spiderwick Chronicles Box Set (The Spiderwick Chronicles #1-5)

by Holly Black (Goodreads Author), Tony DiTerlizzi (Goodreads Author) (Illustrator)

3.94 of 5 stars 3.94 · rating details · 4,709 ratings · 516 reviews

It all started with a mysterious letter left at a tiny bookstore for authors Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. Its closing lines: "We just want people to know about this. The stuff that has happened to us could happen to anyone." Little could they imagine the remarkable adventure that awaited them as they followed Jared, Simon, and Mallory Grace and a strange old book into...more

Hardcover, 571 pages

Published September 21st 2004 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

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Aug 16, 2008 Sara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: middle-grade, 2008, sci-fi-fantasy

This was a very fun series to read. The books are short (only 100 pages each or so, including pages of beautiful illustrations that add to the overall enjoyment) and each book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, so you really need to read the whole series to enjoy it.

Three siblings (twin boys and their older sister) move to a relative's old house with their mom and discover their great-great-uncle's book about goblins, dwarves, brownies, elves, etc. - and these creatures live in the land but are in...more

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Mar 01, 2013 Chris rated it 3 of 5 stars

Cesi, my 6-yr-old, and I read this set and had a blast with it. It's all about getting a glimpse into the normally invisible world of Faerie all around us in which ogres, sprites, brownies, elves, trolls, griffins, goblins, and dragons live. The stories move along at a nice clip, and offer kids plot twists to draw them into attempting to solve mysteries and innovate with the characters when things don't turn out as planned (which they mostly don't, immediately anyway). Way better than the movie,...more

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Jun 22, 2008 Jordan rated it 3 of 5 stars

It must be hard to be a children's fiction writer in a post-Harry Potter world. So many new fantasy series' seem at once to be grasping for the same level of fandom by using so many of the same devices as the Potter books, and yet at the same time desperately trying to assert their originality. There are a lot of good things to be said for the Spiderwick Chronicles, and I'm looking forward to the movie version's release in a few weeks. But at the same time, there's something kind of hollow about...more

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Feb 03, 2009 Heffalump rated it 2 of 5 stars

I enjoyed the story of The Spiderwick Chronicles. However, I was disappointed that each book was really only a small piece of the whole story. They could have all been put into one larger book that still would not have been too long. Instead they made the books smaller and just over 100 pages each. The cost of each hardcover book in the set is $10.99. It seems more like a marketing ploy to get people to pay out more money. To get the whole set would cost $50 or more but what you are ending up wi...more

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Oct 08, 2012 Annie McMahon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Positive Points
This series introduces the reader to different faeries, such as brownies, goblins, sprites, elves, griffins, and many more. With each book, we discover new creatures, their unique characteristics, and the settings where they dwell. Everything is simple and described in such a way that even a beginner fantasy reader can understand.

The story is written through Jared's POV, one of the nine-year-old twin brothers. Even though they are twins, they have their own unique personalities....more

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Jun 27, 2012 Ish Healy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: blog-reviews

Author: Tony DiTerizzi and Holly Black
Genre: Fantasy, Children's Lit
Rating: C

Rather than review each of the books individually, I’m going to respond to them as a series, in part because I read the series as one book in an anthology, and in part because I think that’s how the story works best, as one longer-story, rather than as a series of shorter ones.

The story, if you’re not familiar with it is such: Following the failure of her marriage Helen Grace brings her three children, daughter Mallory...more Author: Tony DiTerizzi and Holly Black
Genre: Fantasy, Children's Lit
Rating: C

Rather than review each of the books individually, I’m going to respond to them as a series, in part because I read the series as one book in an anthology, and in part because I think that’s how the story works best, as one longer-story, rather than as a series of shorter ones.

The story, if you’re not familiar with it is such: Following the failure of her marriage Helen Grace brings her three children, daughter Mallory and twin sons Simon and Jared, to live on her old family estate, the Spiderwick Estate, which had been in the possession of her Aunt Lucinda until the older woman was institutionalized. The house is completely rundown and soon after they move in the family begins to notice strange things happening, which they attribute to the misbehaviour of the primary protagonist Jared. That is, until Jared finds a hidden room in the home’s attic and a field guide written by Lucinda’s father, Arthur Spiderwick. This guide details the magical world that exists alongside ours, hidden from human site. Jared begins to study the book and discovers that the family has disrupted the estate’s resident house brownie, Thimbletack, turning him into an angry boggart. Calming Thimbletack is only the start of the Graces’ problems, however, as the discovery of the book leads to the emergence of a goblin army and the threat of the ogre Mulgarath, who desires to take over the magical world.

There are two major problems with this series. The first is that the individual components of the series do not belong on their own. A good book should be able to stand relatively on its own; even if it’s part of a series, each book should have its own climax. The payoff at the end of the series might be greater, but the payoff at the end of each book should be worth having read the book itself. This doesn’t really happen in the books of The Spiderwick Chronicles. Instead it almost feels like each book is an attempt to find one or two pieces to a puzzle, with all the rest of the pieces appearing at the end. I don’t mind being given some of the pieces to a greater puzzle in each book, but I expect a book itself to be a puzzle on its own, like one of those collages that when placed together properly forms a picture of Mickey Mouse. The other problem is that there is very little character development. None of the characters is particularly well rounded, not even Jared who tells the story. When you combine these two problems it almost feels as though DiTerlizzi and Black didn’t really think that young readers were capable of following something with any real depth to it.

There are good elements, however. I really like the world that they've crafted and the amount of details that have been put into it - while the actual characters were lacking, the creatures were well developed. I got to know what a goblin, ogre, brownie, and so on are in this world. I think that DiTerizza and Black could have created a huge, Harry Potter-esque series, had they not underestimated the abilities of their readers and taken some of the beings that they were creating and added more depth to everything. In the end, I was disappointed by this series not because of what it was, but because of what it could have been.

http://ishreviews.blogspot.ca/2012/06...(less)

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Jul 25, 2011 Zelly B. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fairytale, speculative-fic, young-adult

A very fun story, one that is very easy to get into, with likeable characters (I adore the Grace twins liek whoa) and an interesting cast of supernatural creatures.

It definitely felt light-hearted. The tone of the whole series of books reminded me of CS Lewis and Diana Wynne Jones, but a little simpler.

And the illustrations are beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. I really think the two (images + text) complimented each other and made the story that much more lush.

Overall, an enjoyable read!

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Feb 23, 2010 Sarai rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-s-chapter-books

Siblings Simon, Jared, and Mallory are living with their mother in their dotty old aunt's rambling, decrepid house when they find a book by their aunt's father that details faeries, ogres, trolls, and other fantastic creatures. I apologize if I spell things wrong, but I listened to this on CD in my car so I missed the book spellings (and apparently good drawings, too). But, I got to hear Mark Hamill read the book, which at times was kind of fun because some of his voices reminded me of Yoda and...more

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Feb 15, 2010 Daniel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, youth-literature

I read the entire series in one go during a bout of insomnia. Youth literature is not really my "thing", but I have been reading and re-reading some things lately because of a few children's librarians I know (one in particular, mmm), and I generally like to read books before watching film adaptations. The only problem is nowadays I'm generally not even aware that a film is an adaptation of a book. I guess I should just assume since Hollywood doesn't seem particularly creative in general anymore...more I read the entire series in one go during a bout of insomnia. Youth literature is not really my "thing", but I have been reading and re-reading some things lately because of a few children's librarians I know (one in particular, mmm), and I generally like to read books before watching film adaptations. The only problem is nowadays I'm generally not even aware that a film is an adaptation of a book. I guess I should just assume since Hollywood doesn't seem particularly creative in general anymore.

ANYWAY.

I'm not sure exactly what age range this is geared toward, but I loved the matter-of-fact treatment of Faerie (their spelling; I still can't decide which works best). I also thought there was a surprisingly honest treatment of divorce recovery for a family over the course of the five books.

The Grace family (sans Papa) move to Spiderwick Estate after Papa buggers off on them, leaving Helen, the mother, Mallory, the thirteen year old sister, and the nine year old twins, Jared and Simon. Helen, a librarian (!), gets her family into a quaint (read: dangerously decaying) old Victorian house that's in the extended family. She works and does her best to take care of the family. But she isn't perfect. Being a single mother is generally considered one of the most difficult things to do in life. Mallory focuses on her fencing. Simon focuses on his animals. Jared has general, unspecific rage. He reminded me a little of Max from Where the Wild Things Are except the narrative is much more developed and the accompanying pictures, though brilliant, are not the driving force in the storytelling. (In fact, the combination of sketches with the text reminded me of the way they worked in the Larklight series, which I also enjoyed.)

His family tries to cope with his coping mechanism while Faerie moves in on them. Their adventures really aren't escapism, because they didn't ask for a boggart in the house. But what else is a neglected brownie to become? Right?

I think the series could have been combined into one book, so either they were attempting to make more money by splitting it up, or they didn't think they could keep their target audience's attention for a book five times the length of each little book ... anyway, I'm interested to see how it works on film.(less)

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Feb 12, 2009 Katy rated it 4 of 5 stars

First, I have to say that if I had read the first book when it was originally published, I would have felt totally ripped off. It's not a story in and of itself, it's the introduction to a story. I was shocked by how short each of these "books" were. The Harry Potter series has seven books with one overarching story (Harry v. Voldemort), but each individual book contains its own story. Not so with Spiderwick. They are literally one story broken up into five segments.

Anyway. Once I got over the i...more

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Aug 19, 2012 Carlos Emmanuel Quiapo rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: owned

There are things that we can't see in this world. And these things can see us. This is pretty much how the Spiderwick Chronicles tells its story.

Created for children before puberty, the Spiderwick Chronicles has been successful in bringing back the fairy-tale based imagination of young adults like me.

Although it's target audience is purely children below 12, the twists and turns of the plots are quite mature for the setting. It's not vague nor dull and that's something new for a children's book...more

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Jul 23, 2009 Kataklicik rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a compendium of five books by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black :
1) The Field Guide
2) The Seeing Stone
3) Lucinda's Secret
4) The Ironwood Tree
5) The Wrath of Mulgarath

And are they BRILLIANT!

Saw the movie, loved it; then read the books, even better!

The books have more characters, the plot more believable, and book 4 is completely missing from the silver screen portrayal. Fast and furious read, completely engrossing. Loved it!

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Mar 12, 2011 Robyn rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed, faeries

A surprisingly realistic children's fairy story. These books did an excellent job of doing many things at once: it had fantastic fantasy elements, while maintaining a surprising amount of emotional verisimilitude. It also juggles the old mythology of fairies while adding rich, new ideas. These books were fabulous, especially for younger readers. If I was dissatisfied with any aspect of this series, it was the length of the individual books, and the feeling that occasionally the books were moving...more

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Sep 06, 2012 Primula Brandybuck rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: audio-books, july-to-december-2012, fantasy, anthologies, over-rated

I listened to the audio versions read by Mark Hamill. The collection was pleasent to listen to, as Hamill did a good job in conveying emotions and tones expressed in the story. Those who complain about the short length of the books are justified, as each book is read in about 60 - 75 minutes; but it's not so bad if you have the complete collection at once, as the books pick up right where the last one left off, so the books easily blend into a seamless story about the length of a single, average...more

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Sep 16, 2010 Trisha rated it 3 of 5 stars

The three Grace siblings are in for a surprise when they move into their Aunt Lucinda's old house. Faeries exist. So do goblins, griffins, dwarves, and a host of other creatures. Their great-great-uncle has left them a guide chronicling these creatures. But the evil Mulgarath wants the guide and he will go to great lengths to get it.

I don't have anything truly negative or truly positive to say about this series. I read all five books in one night, but I feel more like I read one book. Each indiv...more

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Jun 12, 2011 Louis Daniele rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-turned-movies, childrens

A childish yet enjoyable novel. The Spiderwick Chronicles is an amazing and enchanting story that will bring you to the other dimension of faeries, goblins, griffins, and supernatural.

I remember Chronicle of Narnia’s character (Lucy, Edmund, Susan, and Peter) when I met Jared, Simon, and Malory. But compared to the Chronicles of Narnia, it has too short plot (one book is like one chapter of other books), and has too many illustrations.

After reading the whole series, I want to own a griffin, I w...more

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May 11, 2013 Lizzie rated it 4 of 5 stars

As a child I loved these books, I was quite a slow reader so the short books encouraged me to read them and the illistrations gave a pleasant break to the writing. While reading these I was thrown into a world of wonder and amaze, I could escape from everything going on around me by being engulfed in the easy reading narrative.
I gave my collection of books to my younger brother, who claims he 'hate' reading, and they were some of the first books he read on his own, he also loved them and I remem...more

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Oct 17, 2010 Readingtween added it

I listened to the first three Spiderwick Chronicles audio books and loved them. What I liked about it... I thought that It was a very good book and the reader was a very very good reader and my brother said to me that the reader was the actor who played Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars movies and I thought that was pretty cool.

I love the books and my favorite book is the 2nd one and my favorite characters are Mallory and Jared they are my favorite characters because Mallory has a sword and Jared...more

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Sep 07, 2008 Rachel rated it 5 of 5 stars

I've read all the books and they were awsome and I fill the movie pertrays nothing in the books but basicalley puddle jumped threw them picking out samll facts. Event he ending was completly wron and strayed from the books so far I didn't even recognize it! They even said steel burned fairies!

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Aug 07, 2011 Frank rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a really fast read and a fun read. Much better than the movie. The adventures tied in a lot better in the book and made more sense. So even though I had seen the movie first the book was so different it was like reading a totally different story. Woud love to find more like this.

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Jan 13, 2010 Parker added it

I really enjoyed reading the Spiderwick Chronicles. The person that would probably end up reading it is one with a like of mythical creatures and a taste of adventure. A summary of the books is that a family of four a mother, twin brothers named Jared and Simon, and a daughter named Mallory. They move to their great uncle's old house. But with their taste of curiousity theyend up finding a field guide, with descriptions of mythical creatures.
They end up going on a series of adventures finding a...more

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Apr 21, 2008 Michael rated it 5 of 5 stars

I like these books a lot. I saw the movie and decided I should read the books. The are geared towards little children so they are pretty small and easy reading. I like them a ton though!

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Mar 06, 2009 Cathy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult, juvenile

listening to this in the car. Mark Hamill is the reader and he is very good. I really feel like I'm listening to kids. The pace is fast and the story is cute so far.

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Aug 29, 2012 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Listened to audio versions, read by Mark Hamill of Star Wars fame. (Knowing that it was Hamill reading, it was easy to envision Hogsqueal at the cantina.) I thoroughly enjoyed the story. I loved that it was written so younger kids could read it alone. Love me my Harry Potter, but most 2nd and 3rd graders can't handle it. Paging through the book, I saw lots of pictures, further making this a surefire winner for kids just breaking into chapter books.

One problem with the CDs -- there are five -- o...more

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Dec 21, 2012 Gabriel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: hardcover, owned

I have always wanted to read this series but I've never seen the complete set in bookstores so I never got to actually reading it though. But then I saw this edition! I was so happy!!! Not only was this such a bargain (buying individual copies of the book would probably cost three times as much as this edition), it has some bonus content as well!

The chapters were (to my surprise) quite short! They're very short. I mean, each book was probably less than a hundred pages. It was ridiculous! I even...more

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Jul 25, 2012 Sunil rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: want-to-read

I listened to this series purely because it was read by Mark Hamill, as I knew nothing else about it but that it was a children's fantasy series that had been turned into a movie. Jared, Simon, and Mallory Grace move into an old house after their father leaves them because he's a jerkface or something. And then they discover a Field Guide and find out that fairies are real! And so there are brownies and sprites and goblins and other such denizens of the Faerie realm.

Unfortunately, the series is...more

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Mar 15, 2013 Eunice Wu rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: box-sets-and-bind-ups, second-hand-books-and-gifts

I really enjoyed The Spiderwick Chronicles. And I think this edition makes the reading experience for the series much better because the books are pretty short – which is understandable for they are children’s books – so the whole series read just like a novel instead of separate books.

The writing for the series is simple and easy to follow, which as I have said, because it is a children’s series. So yes, simple but done in a way that still appealed to someone who does not belong to the targeted...more I really enjoyed The Spiderwick Chronicles. And I think this edition makes the reading experience for the series much better because the books are pretty short – which is understandable for they are children’s books – so the whole series read just like a novel instead of separate books.

The writing for the series is simple and easy to follow, which as I have said, because it is a children’s series. So yes, simple but done in a way that still appealed to someone who does not belong to the targeted audience’s age group. I loved the writing so I look forward to reading more of Holly Black’s work to see how different she writes for young-adult books.

The illustrations were beautiful. They drawing style really captured the fantastical aspects of the story. The attention to detail was simply stunning. The illustrations really brought the book to life. Tony DiTerlizzi really put a lot of work into the drawings which I think encapsulates the situations they correspond to. The artwork is truly memorable. And I think it would be more so had it been colored.

The plot is simple enough but that’s what I loved about it. The previous book I read had a really insane and explosive plot so I felt I needed something light and simple. And around the time I read The Spiderwick ChroniclesI really had a lot on my plate so I had to put it down more times than I would’ve wanted to but when I did start reading again, it was the easiest thing to catch up. As with the writing style, although the plot was pretty uncomplicated I found it pretty engaging.

The characters were beautiful. I loved the characters. The Grace children are not just kids who are tools to the fantasy. They’re pretty three-dimensional; they have their problems, and their insecurities. Especially Jared, who for the most part, is considered to be this broken, troubled kid by his mother. I think that’s pretty hard stuff to deal with. And the fact that he was able to deal with that and the faerie-related troubles makes him a very amazing character for me. But really all of the characters are pretty amazing.

All in all I loved the series. It was simple but profound in its own way. I just really enjoy reading children’s books.
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Feb 17, 2011 Jenn rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was a charming set of books. (Yes it's actually five books but they're small so I'm only counting it as one.) I'd seen the movie last year and thought it was cute but the story line seemed "off" somehow. As we all know the book is usually better then the movie - this was no exception. The story had a much better flow since it didn't have to compromise to the budget constraints of multiple sets unlike the movie. I loved the characters and each book was a fun romp through a fantasy world fill...more

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Mar 14, 2011 Michelle rated it 4 of 5 stars

i actually read/listened to this during my road trip on cd.... i loved the movie and thought this could be a good book to listen and drive to. i was not let down. it was the perfect book for such a road trip. the ideas that there are worlds within worlds within a magical world seem so fun to me. wish i'd have found these kind of reads when i was a kid. right down my imaginative kid alley :) loved every one! the author was very creative with tricks and things to dealing with new characters and th...more

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Jul 21, 2010 Ethan rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was looking for a light, easy read after getting bogged down in politics, history, and economics for the last little while and this series was perfect. I had seen and liked the movie and it was fun to go deeper into that world, to learn about the creatures that are all around us that we don't see. Often while reading I could think of a place I've been where some of these creatures would have been found if only I had eyes to see them. I also really liked the illustrations in these books, I feel...more

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About Holly Black

Holly Black is a best-selling author of contemporary fantasy novels for kids, teens, and adults. She is the author of the Modern Faerie Tale series (Tithe, Valiant, and Ironside), The Spiderwick Chronicles (with Tony DiTerlizzi), and The Good Neighbors graphic novels (with Ted Naifeh) The Poison Eaters and Other Stories, a collection of short fiction, and The Curse Worker series (White Cat, Red Gl...more

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Books by Holly Black

The Field Guide (The Spiderwick Chronicles, #1)

The Wrath of Mulgarath (The Spiderwick Chronicles, #5)

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