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Welcome to a world of fairies…
What are The Spiderwick Chronicles about?
Written by American writers Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, The Spiderwick Chronicles is a series of children’s books.
The series is about the adventures of the Grace children, twins Simon and Jared, and their older sister Mallory. Everything began after the children moved into the decrepit Spiderwick Estate with their mother, Helen. Soon, they discover a world of fairies that they never knew existed.
Despite the warnings, the children can’t resist exploring the hidden world around them, and they quickly find themselves in the middle of a conflict between the magical creatures and a malevolent force seeking to use their powers for their own gain.
The Grace children must use their wits and courage to protect themselves and the magical world they have discovered.
The Spiderwick Chronicles was adapted as a movie by Mark Waters starring Freddie Highmore as both twins Jared and Simon, Mary-Louise Parker as their mother, and Nick Nolte as the voice of the villainous ogre Mulgarath.
How to read The Spiderwick Chronicles Books in Order:
The Spiderwick Chronicles went beyond the original series with a spin-off and companion books.
The Spiderwick Chronicles
- The Field Guide (2003)
- The Seeing Stone (2003)
- Lucinda’s Secret (2003)
- The Ironwood Tree (2004)
- The Wrath of Mulgarath (2004)
Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles
- The Nixie’s Song (2007)
- A Giant Problem (2008)
- The Wyrm King (2009)
What is the plot of The Spiderwick Chronicles novels?
For more information about the books in The Spiderwick Chronicles series by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, you’ll find below the official synopsis for all the books:
The Field Guide – After finding a mysterious, handmade field guide in the attic of the ramshackle old mansion they’ve just moved into, Jared; his twin brother, Simon; and their older sister, Mallory, discover that there’s a magical and maybe dangerous world existing parallel to our own—the world of faerie. The Grace children want to share their story, but the faeries will do everything possible to stop them…
The Seeing Stone – Thanks to the mysterious field guide left behind by their long-lost great-great-uncle Arthur Spiderwick, life for the Grace kids is beyond weird. When Simon goes missing, Jared is convinced creatures from the faerie world have something to do with it. Mallory is not convinced. That is, until she and Jared have to contend with a band of menacing, marauding goblins. Simon is clearly in danger, and it’s up to Mallory and Simon to save him, before it’s too late…
Lucinda’s Secret – Hoping to learn more about Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide and its long-vanished author, the kids decide to consult their Great-Aunt Lucy, Arthur’s daughter. She has been hospitalized ever since she was attacked by faerie beings who suspected that she knew where her father’s book was hidden. She warns that the family will be in grave danger if they remain at Spiderwick Estate. When the siblings find an old map that leads into the elves’ secret forest, their aunt’s grim prediction seems all too plausible.
The Ironwood Tree – At school, someone is running around pretending to be Jared, and it’s not Simon. To make matters even worse, now Mallory has disappeared and something foul in the water is killing off all the plants and animals for miles around. Clues point to the old abandoned quarry, just outside of town. Dwarves have taken over an abandoned mine there. And the faerie world’s abuzz with the news that a creature with plans to rule the world has offered them a gift to join with him — he’s given them a queen…
The Wrath of Mulgarath – Bruised and battered, Jared, Simon, and Mallory return home to find the mansion ransacked and learn that Mulgarath has made off with both the Spiderwick Guide and their mother! With only the help of Thimbletack, Hogsqueal, and Byron, the Grace kids have to defeat Mulgarath and his goblin army. But before they can face Mulgarath, they’ll have to rescue Arthur Spiderwick from Lorengorm and the elves.
The plot of the Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles novels:
The Spiderwick Chronicles leave the old-fashioned charm of New England far behind and head south for some fiendish faerie fun in the hot Florida sun.
The Nixie’s Song – Eleven-year-old Nicholas Vargas only thinks his life has been turned upside down after his developer father remarries and moves his new wife and daughter into the soon-to-be-completed Mangrove Hollow. But an “expedition” to a nearby lake turns up a little nixie with a giant problem and it’s up to Nick; his stepsister, Laurie; and his big brother, Julian to figure out the best way to stop a host of rampaging giants before all of Florida goes up in smoke.
A Giant Problem – Talk about out of the frying pan, into the fire! I was pretty sure that my freaky stepsister and that freaky field guide of hers would ruin my life. But now it looks like they’re going to ruin all of Florida, too! Okay, maybe that’s not fair. Maybe all these stupid giants would be waking up anyway, but if it wasn’t for her and that book, I’d be home playing video games and this would be someone else’s giant problem!
The Wyrm King – Nick and Laurie had thought they solved their giant problems when they drove all the giants into the sea. But now, the Grace kids have come back to tell them they may have more trouble coming their way! It turns out the giants control the population of Hydra, a dragon like creature that is creating sinkholes all over Florida. But with the mermaids refusing to return the giants to the shore, the nixie’s still missing and the threat of a destroyed Florida drawing closer, the kids have to take matters in their own hands.
The Spiderwick Chronicles: Companion Books
You can continue to explore the Spiderwick Chronicles by going beyond the novels with those following companion books:
Arthur Spiderwick’s Notebook for Fantastical Observations – This handy interactive storybook features seventeen mini-adventures collected from faerie watchers around the globe as well as plenty of pages for readers to add their own stories, maps, charts, notes, lists, diagrams, and drawings. So get ready to embark on your own faerie adventure — all you need is an observant eye and an open mind. Just keep your wits about you.
Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You – This long-awaited compendium to the worldwide Spiderwick phenomenon delivers enough information to satisfy even the most demanding faerie enthusiast.
The Spiderwick Chronicles: Care and Feeding of Sprites – A Picture Book. Forget everything you know — or think you know — about sprites, and listen to the experts from the International Sprite League as they, with the assistance of the creative team that brought you the bestselling Spiderwick Chronicles, provide a resource that will prove to be as essential for the novice sprite keeper as a strong cage and eyes in the back of his or her head.
The Chronicles of Spiderwick: A Grand Tour of the Enchanted World, Navigated by Thimbletack – Thimbletack, the house boggart of the Spiderwick residence guides readers through the history of the estate with the help of pullouts, pop-ups, fold-outs, and more, in an interactive title enhanced with never-before-seen original art, photographs, and sepia-colored images.
What should you read if you like The Spiderwick Chronicles novels?
If you like reading Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black’s The Spiderwick Chronicles, you may be interested in Holly Black’s books of course, but also in The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan, The Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull, The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis, The Inkheart trilogy by Cornelia Funke.