Phelan, Carolyn. February 1, 2006. Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You: Review Booklist Online: http://www.booklistonline.com.proxy.g...

Review by Horn Book online:
This review compares the movie (produced by the authors of the chronicles) and the five book series.
http://www.hbook.com/resources/films/... ( )

Good children's series. Very quick read for adults. Cute and creative and the right level of scary for a six year old. ( )

The first of the Spiderwick Chronicles. Tells the story of a family who moves into a house and the children soon find a secret room, a book, and mysterious men warning them.

It was very cute and a quick and easy read. Since I know I would like to see the movie I will probably continue the series before renting it.

Three children move to a creepy new home.

I wanted to love this, but I just couldn't. It's got all the right ingredients, but there aren't enough of them. It's like someone's invited you to a really good supper, then served you teeny, tiny portions of dishes that vaguely resemble what you feel like but don't really make the grade. And just when you're getting into the groove of the meal, just when you're starting to enjoy yourself after all, it ends.

Part of the problem is that the book is so durned short. The story's over as soon as it's begun. The authors do a pretty good job of showing the stages the children go through as they come to accept the new world unfolding around them, and they've done some decent things with the familial issues, but nothing goes deep enough. Ideas are introduced, expounded upon, and finished with in record time. Yes, I realize that it's a children's book, but I don't think that's any sort of excuse. Just look at all the amazing children's lit that's out there right now. This one doesn't really stack up.

And WHERE, may I ask, are all the faeries? They're in rather short supply for a book that's marketed as a creepy faerie story.

But maybe the next few books add more to the story. I might pick 'em up if I happen to be having a dry couple of weeks, but I can't say as they're a priority right now. I was pretty disappointed with this. I do seem to be in the minority, though, so perhaps it'd be worth reading just to see what you think of it.

(A slightly different version of this review originally appeared on my blog, Stella Matutina). ( )