ماجراهای اسپایدرویک

The Spiderwick Chronicles #1-5

by Tony DiTerlizzi, Holly Black, محمد قصاع (Translator)

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 a world filled with elves, goblins, dwarves, trolls, and a fantastical menagerie of other creatures. The oddest part is in entering that world, they didn't leave this one!

Five captivating books!
One thrilling adventure!
The Spiderwick Chronicles

Genres: Fantasy, Childrens, Middle Grade, Fiction, Young Adult, Adventure, Magic

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

#1 New York Times bestselling author and illustrator, Tony DiTerlizzi, has been creating children’s books for twenty years. From fanciful picture books like The Broken Ornament and The Spider & The Fly (a Caldecott Honor book), to chapter books like Kenny and The Dragon and The Search for WondLa, DiTerlizzi imbues his stories with rich imagination. With Holly Black, he created the middle-grade series, The Spiderwick Chronicles, which has sold over 20 million copies, been adapted into a feature film, and translated in over thirty countries. He teamed up with Lucasfilm to retell the original Star Wars trilogy as a picture book and his collaboration with celebrated author Mo Willems created the bestseller The Story of Diva & Flea. The Norman Rockwell museum’s retrospective, “Never Abandon Imagination”, featured artwork from the beginning of DiTerlizzi’s career as a contributing artist for Dungeons & Dragons and broke attendance records. He has been featured in Time magazine, USA Today, CNN, PBS, NPR the BBC and The Today Show.

Reviews

[✦BookishlyRichie✦ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obviously I loved re-reading my favorite series of all-time!

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 invisible to the naked human eye! They make mischief around the house and the area, and soon the siblings find themselves drawn into a battle in this world because of the book's existence and their possession of it.

The three kids are very easy to like. They're pretty typical, each with their own interest, and occasionally bicker between themselves in an amusing way. I continually wanted to root for them and to discover what they'd get into next. Plus, as I mentioned earlier, the illustrations are excellent as well.

The only thing that surprised me about this series was that it's supposed to be for ages 7+ but had a bit of violence in it and the word "crap" was used a number of times. So, if you're planning to read this with kids, just be aware.

Overall, an enjoyable series. The plot was interesting, the characters were good, there were both funny and exciting moments, and the writing was excellent. Now I'm looking forward to watching the movie and seeing how it measures up...

[Asghar Abbas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very charming book
the delightful illustrations only added to the magic
and to the story
a well-made movie with the lovely Irish Sarah Bolger rounded things off nicely.

A truly beautiful edition.

[Krasi Karaivanov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Много интересна история, изпълнена с приключения и магия. На места не ми беше хич детска, както и на места беше леко претупано действието към края, но все пак доста яка 😁
ПС: На места доста се различава от екранизацията, даже цялата 4та книга липсва във филма 🫣

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really really enjoyed this!

[Nikoleta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Υπέροχο βιβλίο για παιδιά (κ για ενήλικες παιδιά). Γιατί όταν ήμουν παιδί δεν μου έφερναν τέτοια βιβλία; Πόσο μου εξάπτουν τη φαντασία; Νεράιδες, ξωτικά τρολς και καλικάτζαροι σε μια μεγάλη έπαυλη που θα γίνει το σπίτι τους και γύρω από αυτή! Οοοολα αυτά τα έβαλαν μέσα σε αυτόν τον κόσμο όχι σε κάποιον άλλον, υπάρχουν στις αυλές μας, στα βουνά, στα δάση! Καταπληκτικό για τα παιδιά!

[Arybo ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cosa non sono le illustrazioni? SONO BELLISSIME!

[Théo M. (bookswiththeo) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really enjoyed re-reading the series that was one of my favourites as a child.

[ahmad alhamadi · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is a good book, more like 4.5 stars.

[Sylexlibris · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 🌟

[Frog · Rating 4 out of 5]

2021 review:

I think the time has come these days that you might as well edit books as you read them. There are things I might as well do with technology so a book will be how I wanted it the next time I read it.

It might sound sad to do this, if books are supposed to be new experiences from the author's unique perspective. But there are some books that you might as well change, and this just seemed to be one of them.

That's why at the sixth reading, I made a few tweaks to things I always wished were slightly different. I didn't think the divorce thread added anything and minimized that aspect. I worded some of the dialogue to be more believable, took out filter words and some redundant internal dialogue. I changed some minor details that felt ready to be dated.

I can't say I have any regrets. If I'm going to read it so many times, I might as well. At least it's an interesting experiment instead of just saying what I didn't like in a review.

----------------

2020 review:

There's a fine line between books I hate and books I read many times in a row.

Here are some subtle reasons this series is (at least a little better) than the average library book:

1. The creatures are magical (not "with a twist," "modern spin," or ulterior motive).
2. The art (in most library books the illustrations don't fit with the story, and look painfully like commissions; i.e Septimus Heap. These ones fit because the illustrator was a co-author. And they happen to be very good illustrations).
3. It's about a family. (No tacked on "best friend" or "token sidekick" main characters).
4. They're short. (If a story is going to be straightforward and simple, this is wise).

[Laurence · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bij de derde voorleesbeurt uit dit boek, begon mijn zoon "Dit doet me denken aan een film... en dan gebeurt dit, en daarna dat..." waarop mijn dochter "Ja, en dan dat!".
Ik: "Zou het misschien de film van dit boek kunnen zijn?"
Mijn kinderen: (hard nadenkend) ".... Oh ja!"

Conclusie: mijn kinderen kijken veel te veel tv.

Maar goed, dit boek. Ik had het gekozen als afwisseling met Harry Potter (expliciete vraag van mijn dochter), en dit zei me heel vaag iets, dus nam ik het maar mee uit de bib. Mij was het dus helemaal onbekend, ook de film nooit gezien, wat leidde tot de grappige situatie dat mijn kinderen mij niets mochten verklappen terwijl ik hen voorlas.

Wat opvalt is dat het puur qua lengte, taal (en grootte van de letters) duidelijk afgestemd is op een jonger publiek. Al vliegend door de pagina's vraag je je af hoe de auteur hier in godsnaam vijf boeken met elk hun eigen verhaal uit kan krijgen.
Maar zie: hij kan het. Meer nog, ik hield erg van de familieband tussen de twee broers en de zus die hier beschreven wordt, die is zo mooi, ze komen echt voor elkaar op. Ik keek na het voorlezen van het boek ook naar de film tesamen met mijn kinderen, en die is helemaal anders op dat vlak: de kinderen zijn (allemaal) een stuk vervelender, in het bijzonder voor elkaar.

Plezant kinderboek dat echte monsters niet uit de weg gaat: ik vond dit, ook al is het dus echt wel geschreven voor een jong publiek, echt goed meevallen.

(3.5 sterren)

PS: Tips voor goede voorleesboeken mogen jullie altijd met me delen!

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 this series. The fact that it is even a series at all seems to scream loudly of desire to become one of those beloved episodic stories that kids wait in line for the release of at midnight, but as far as the story itself goes, the devision into several books is completely unjustified. Each book is full of engaging pictures, and with the type size, it takes only about a half hour to read each one. The cozy box set may fit nicely along side it's more accomplished siblings, but inside the pages where it counts, there just isn't the same strength of heart.

[Eirini Proikaki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Συμπαθητικό ,αλλά δεν με ενθουσίασε.

[Michael Sorbello · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Field Guide - 3/5

Simon, Jared and Mallory Grace move in to a creepy Victorian house with their mother after their parents divorce and the three kids get themselves in trouble. After moving in, they discover that something isn't quite right with the house. It's haunted, but not by ghosts. It's haunted by fairies and other classic fantasy creatures from another world.

It's a fun little mystery book with cool fantasy elements and it does a good job setting up the characters and premise at an incredibly fast speed without feeling rushed. The ending shows a lot of promise for the future of the series. My only complaint is that it ended too soon, just when I was about to get into the meat and bones of the fantasy side of things. I enjoyed what little I was given though and I plan on reading the rest of the series.

***

The Seeing Stone - 3/5

Things get weirder and a helluva lot more dark for the Grace kids when Simon gets kidnapped by a pack of bloodthirsty goblins. One thing I really loved about this one is how disturbing the monster designs are. They look like something you would see in a 18+ dark fantasy manga, not a kid friendly adventure story. There were also scenes where the goblins cooked cats alive over a fire while making Simon watch as they planned to cook him alive next. Surprisingly brutal and scary for the age rating and I think I liked this one more than the first for that reason.

The stakes were higher and the monsters were impressive. The Grace kids seem to be growing closer to each other as they find themselves thrown into one nasty situation after the other. As Stranger Things would say, shared trauma brings people together.

***

Lucinda's Secret - 3/5

Simon, Jared and Mallory pay a visit to their aunt Lucinda after learning that she might not be so crazy even though she’s been locked away in an asylum for quite some time. It turns out that she had troubles with mischievous fairies just like the Grace kids and she offer them some guidance on how to confront the problem.

There were some interesting tidbits revealed about Arthur(the author of The Guide) and his history with the fairy world and we got to meet some royal denizens of the realm. It’s the first time hearing the name Mulgarath who might become the main villain at a later point. And as always, the art is fantastic.

Again, my biggest complaint about the book is that it’s way too short and feels choppy because of it. Certain details and plot points don’t have enough time to stick their landing. It wasn't as intense or dark as book 2.

***

The Ironwood Tree - 3/5

Mallory gets kidnapped by mischievous dwarves and gets turned into a parody of Sleeping Beauty. Simon and Jared scheme up a clever plan to get their sister back by offering them a fake copy of Arthur's Guide. During the operation however, the Grace kids finally come face-to-face with Morgarath for the first time and he's a scary and ruthless ogre. Most of the story felt like filler but in such a short book that didn't bother me too much. I'm looking forward to seeing Morgarath in action in the final book.

***

The Wrath of Mulgarath - 3/5

The Grace kids have been tormented by the inhabitants of the fairy world for quite some time now, but when Mulgarath kidnaps their mother, things get personal. The final book was the best in my opinion. It wrapped things up in a neat way and the final confrontation between the Grace kids and Mulgarath resolved a lot of other issues that have been going on since book one such as the rocky relationship between the siblings, the misunderstandings between the Grace kids and their mom as well as the mystery of Arthur and the fairies. The fight scenes were cool, the art was great and things were surprisingly brutal at times. It was a simple and enjoyable fantasy adventure.

[Ceyrone · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a fun read. I was inspired to read this because of the movie and I’m glad I did. So many details that weren’t in the movie, were in the books. I loved the world that is created, and the creatures. The creativity and imagination and the feel that this is something that can happen in the real world, is a testament to the illustrator and author. Kind of inspired me to create my own world.

‘the world in silver and copper and iron.” Simon crawled to the edge of the cage. “That doesn’t make any sense. What are you going to eat? How are you going to breathe without plants to make oxygen?’

[Kalea · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of my absolute FAVORITE childhood series, please read if you haven't, the books go by so fast, and the world is amazingly built.

[Charlotte Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Spiderwick Chronicles is a series that I missed out on as a child but I remember my younger brother had the first few books. I have read the first two a few times previously but never the whole series so I was excited to give them a go.

I sped through them within just a few days; the writing style is easy to get through being that they are written for a younger audience and the illustrations really break up the text nicely. I think that although the books are pretty consistent, there was a dip around the third book but that definitely picked up again. I love all of the magical creatures that are introduced in the series and the illustrations make them feel all the more fantastical.


The only real issue I had with the series is that I feel that the final few pages were a little rushed; the ending seemed a little abrupt to me. However, there is another three books in this world, the Beyond Spiderwick trilogy, and so I can forgive the ending slightly, knowing that there is more to read!

I would highly recommend this to children who like the idea of books such as Harry Potter but aren't old enough yet or anyone who wants a quick children's fantasy series that is action-packed and imaginative.

[Heffalump · Rating 2 out of 5]

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 with is basically one complete book that is worth more like $15 or $20.
Luckily, I borrowed the set. I would only purchase it if it was available for less than $20 for the hardcovers.

[Eloy Nogueira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leí esta saga juvenil en 2018 y como han hecho recientemente una serie de televisión (que he visto y no me ha gustado), quise volver a leerla para refrescar la memoria. Estos son cinco libros, de unas 120 páginas en físico que se reducen a unas 70 en digital, que no podrían ser más simples. Tienen la letra grande y varias ilustraciones, así que se leen casi de una sentada, yo me los leí en un par de días. Son bastante entretenidos y la prosa es simple y fácil de leer, claro que siendo novelas juveniles no se les puede pedir más. Para pasar el rato.

[Nalu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ler esse livro nessa edição completamente fantástica fez toda a diferença. Muita nostalgia por ver que a adaptação seguiu a história de um jeito muito fiel e fiquei animada em ler as cenas que não entraram pra versão cinematográfica. Amei demais!!

[Amelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I first read the Spiderwick Chronicles when I was quite young; I remember I took the first book camping and was so proud when I actually finished it XD So, because of that, I definitely have fond memories of this series! I actually enjoyed this more than I thought I was going to- the books were super short and I could read them in one sitting. They weren't overly complicated (I mean, it says they're for 7+ on the back of the book XD), but I was still able to enjoy them as a teen!

Likes
The illustrations
The siblings actually got along. It's hard to find that sometimes, especially with younger characters!
They acted like their ages, but were still pretty mature, too
The worldbuilding was simple, but you could tell it was much more complicated than what was described
It was rather unique!

Honestly, I don't really have any dislikes. It's not like this was amazing or anything, but I enjoyed it and would recommend it to younger kids. (Though they do have more violence that I remembered; I think I just have more of an imagination now XD) Overall, I liked this and am not ashamed to say it 😂

[Arsnoctis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dal mio post sul blog
[...]forse il secondo mi ha presa un po’ meno, mentre il quarto e il quinto mi son piaciuti ancora di più, ma nel complesso è una serie che mi ha proprio fatto piacere leggere.[...]

Una serie in cinque libri perfettamente godibile anche dagli adulti, una storia illustrata magistralmente che chiede a gran voce di essere presente sui vostri scaffali o nelle vostre librerie digitali, un barattolo pieno di lucciole che chiedono di essere liberate per lasciarsi ammirare mentre baluginano nel buio; questo è solo uno degli aspetti di questa storia che mi sento di provare a condividere, per tutti gli altri: ci sono 5 libri che aspettano solo di essere letti.

[Un 4.5 arrotondato per difetto perchè, a volte, sono troppo esigente]

[Nigel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though originally released separately, the five editions combined here form one stonkingly well-written, structured and plotted little children's fantasy novel. Jared, Simon and Mallory stumble across a whole hidden world of faeries when they find a Field Guide to fantastical things, and soon they are beset by boggarts and goblins and trolls and ogres and all manner of frightful (and delightful) things, making their life interesting. Told from the point of view mainly of Jared, with his hot temper and anger issues getting him into trouble, it's a marvelous, pacy adventure full of magical and monstrous creatures. This edition, as well as being the complete story with lots of illustrations, includes sketches and lost chapters and fun tributes from other artists. Really quite brilliant.

[Marita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anbefales ved lesetørke! Les boka, se på tegningene, hopp over filmen.

[Elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uno di quei libri che ti fanno tornare bambino, una lettura proprio apprezzata ♥

[Linda Hart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just plain fun!

[Hussein Baher · Rating 4 out of 5]

My childhood was shaped by those stories while growing up

[Merlin M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love love love it! One of my favourite books as a kid, it put me back to a magical time. I wish there where more books like this its too good!

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐
I've seen the film when I was very little and as soon as I saw that I had the books to read I got so excited that all the memories of what I felt watching the film came back. It made me want to read it even more so I picked it up immediately.
I couldn't wait to be a part of this world again, I missed each and every character especially my favourite, Thimbletack 🥺.
It's interesting how all the Grace children are so different from each other but together they make a great team: Mallory with her fencing, Simon with his love for animals and Jared for his drawings and wit. I flicked through it so quickly that I can't wait to watch the film again just to see what are the differences with the books. 🥰