What do you think?
Rate this book
Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles #1
The Nixie's Song
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. 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 - the huge, lumbering, fire-breathing variety - and it's up to Nick; his stepsister, Laurie; and his big brother, Julian (plus a familiar face from the original Spiderwick Chronicles) to figure out the best way to stop a host of rampaging giants before all of Florida goes up in smoke.
But an "expedition" to a nearby lake turns up a little nixie with a giant problem - the huge, lumbering, fire-breathing variety - and it's up to Nick; his stepsister, Laurie; and his big brother, Julian (plus a familiar face from the original Spiderwick Chronicles) to figure out the best way to stop a host of rampaging giants before all of Florida goes up in smoke.
162 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
159 people are currently reading
6145 people want to read
About the author
Tony DiTerlizzi
130 books2,213 followers#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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 620 reviews
June 16, 2015
I read the first five-book series of The Spiderwick Chronicles, and saw the movie when it was released a few years later, but until lately hadn't felt much interest for the follow-up series of three. It seemed like a opportunist spin-off, and it felt like the first one tied itself up pretty nicely. Besides, they didn't REALLY have that much of an effect on me, as books that I found to be, as a friend put it, Lemony Snicket Lite. Then when browsing at the library, I found all three just sitting there, nice and small and very attractive in design, so I decided to pick them up.
This first in the series was pretty weak. The characters are flat and have very little personality (and when they do, it seems pretty forced), and Nick, the main protagonist, is unpleasant throughout. The story doesn't really go anywhere to speak of, and it all seemed a little bit like an excuse to just drop the series in the new, interesting locale of Florida during the muggy summertime (the original series was set in Maine) and introduce a bunch of new creatures that they didn't get to use last time. Then, the story REALLY took a bizarre turn when the authors actually inserted themselves in the book, as writers of the original series and the spin-off Field Guide who do a book signing in Orlando. This self-inclusion works great for Lemony Snicket, since he's actually a character in the story, and of course a pseudonym besides, but in Spiderwick it comes across as gimmicky and self-indulgent. Then, don't let's forget to mention the appearance of the twin boys from the other books, whose names were apparently changed prior to publishing to protect their identities... Jared "Grace" has become a very nasty bully, and seems like a totally unnecessary addition to the book. Then, they arbitrarily introduce a brand new character in the very last few pages. The whole affair just seems kind of rushed and not totally thought-out. It also just seems like the authors don't really know what kids think or talk like, and they come across as kind of too grown-up and cynical. What age group is this book aimed at anyway? There's some pretty inappropriate language, and some pretty heavy subject matter. (I understand that divorce and adjusting to step-siblings is a topic that can be handled in kidlit, it's just a matter of whether or not the authors know how to do it right, and I don't think these quite do.) Just because a book is written for kids doesn't mean it can't be well-written.
I gave it a couple of stars, because the idea had potential, and the next two volumes might build on that. Also, the overall design is just beautiful. (Still, while I really do like the illustration style and a lot of the art, some of the drawings seemed sort of similarly self-indulgent, even to the point of including character portraits of the authors themselves. It just seemed sort of tacky.) I'll read the other two and see if this goes anywhere, but I'm not holding out much hope.
This first in the series was pretty weak. The characters are flat and have very little personality (and when they do, it seems pretty forced), and Nick, the main protagonist, is unpleasant throughout. The story doesn't really go anywhere to speak of, and it all seemed a little bit like an excuse to just drop the series in the new, interesting locale of Florida during the muggy summertime (the original series was set in Maine) and introduce a bunch of new creatures that they didn't get to use last time. Then, the story REALLY took a bizarre turn when the authors actually inserted themselves in the book, as writers of the original series and the spin-off Field Guide who do a book signing in Orlando. This self-inclusion works great for Lemony Snicket, since he's actually a character in the story, and of course a pseudonym besides, but in Spiderwick it comes across as gimmicky and self-indulgent. Then, don't let's forget to mention the appearance of the twin boys from the other books, whose names were apparently changed prior to publishing to protect their identities... Jared "Grace" has become a very nasty bully, and seems like a totally unnecessary addition to the book. Then, they arbitrarily introduce a brand new character in the very last few pages. The whole affair just seems kind of rushed and not totally thought-out. It also just seems like the authors don't really know what kids think or talk like, and they come across as kind of too grown-up and cynical. What age group is this book aimed at anyway? There's some pretty inappropriate language, and some pretty heavy subject matter. (I understand that divorce and adjusting to step-siblings is a topic that can be handled in kidlit, it's just a matter of whether or not the authors know how to do it right, and I don't think these quite do.) Just because a book is written for kids doesn't mean it can't be well-written.
I gave it a couple of stars, because the idea had potential, and the next two volumes might build on that. Also, the overall design is just beautiful. (Still, while I really do like the illustration style and a lot of the art, some of the drawings seemed sort of similarly self-indulgent, even to the point of including character portraits of the authors themselves. It just seemed sort of tacky.) I'll read the other two and see if this goes anywhere, but I'm not holding out much hope.
April 8, 2016
Have you ever wondered if fairies were real? To answer that question yes, I have wondered if fairies were real once I finished reading this book.The genre of my book ¨The Nixies Song¨ is fantasy fiction because the story is about imagination and talks about fairies. My overall opinion is that this was an ok book because it is more about fantasy and I would enjoy the book more if it was more mysterious and more exciting. It was not my favorite. I recommend this book to people who enjoy reading about fantasy and fairies.
In the beginning of the book it talks about how after his mother died. Everyone stopped bothering each other right up until his father suddenly got married again. Nick now had a new stepsister.He hated that he had to give up his room and move in with his brother Jules. In the middle part of the book Nick learns a couple of things about Laurie. He learns how she believes in fairies and how she collects books about fairies and unicorns also how she hated her name and wished her name was Lauranathana. Towards the end of the story Nick and Laurie go on some adventures and Nick finds a four leaf clover and has no idea that it gives him the ability to see fairies until Laurie tells him all about it. At the end of the story the fairie that Nick spotted with the four leaf clover needs help. The fairie needs help finding her sisters. So Nick and Laurie go on an adventure to find the fairies sisters. While on their adventure they both get into some trouble. For an example in chapter three when Nick thought that the monster was a mountain and he sat on him and that made the monster mad and it started chasing them.
The third person view, affects the story because it helps the reader understand the story like if someone is reading the story to them. The major event is that the monster wanted to kill them. The title "The Nixies Song" relates to the book because when the nixie sang the monster would calm down. The setting of this book is important because it shows what kind of environment Nick an Laurie are in. The settings adds to the conflict because the monster wants to eat Nick. The conflict is " protagonist vs. antagonist".The authors tone is calm at first but then gets nervous and frightened because the the characters are getting chased by a monster while trying to save Toalas's aka the fairie's sisters. The character's motivation is that they have to save Toala's sisters and bring them back to the pond safely.
I was surprised when Nick was able to see the nixie. I was angry when the monster wanted to torture the characters. I liked the way the author explained how the characters felt throughout the story. If I were the author I would have more characters and more protagonist to make the story much more interesting and see how the characters got through their problems. My favorite part was the end when they killed the monster and now they are safe. An interesting part of the book was when almost near the end a lot of fairies came by their house. I thought the ending was good because it ended in a good way and everyone was safe after all. "The Nixies Song" is a good title for the book because it is pretty much was saved the characters from being chased and tortured by the monster because the monster would calm down when the nixie sang to it.
In conclusion, I rate this book three stars out of five stars because I wish it was more exciting and more mysterious. I recommend this book to someone who enjoys reading books about fantasy. Now we all know that faeries are not real. But what do you think you'd be doing this minute if they were?
In the beginning of the book it talks about how after his mother died. Everyone stopped bothering each other right up until his father suddenly got married again. Nick now had a new stepsister.He hated that he had to give up his room and move in with his brother Jules. In the middle part of the book Nick learns a couple of things about Laurie. He learns how she believes in fairies and how she collects books about fairies and unicorns also how she hated her name and wished her name was Lauranathana. Towards the end of the story Nick and Laurie go on some adventures and Nick finds a four leaf clover and has no idea that it gives him the ability to see fairies until Laurie tells him all about it. At the end of the story the fairie that Nick spotted with the four leaf clover needs help. The fairie needs help finding her sisters. So Nick and Laurie go on an adventure to find the fairies sisters. While on their adventure they both get into some trouble. For an example in chapter three when Nick thought that the monster was a mountain and he sat on him and that made the monster mad and it started chasing them.
The third person view, affects the story because it helps the reader understand the story like if someone is reading the story to them. The major event is that the monster wanted to kill them. The title "The Nixies Song" relates to the book because when the nixie sang the monster would calm down. The setting of this book is important because it shows what kind of environment Nick an Laurie are in. The settings adds to the conflict because the monster wants to eat Nick. The conflict is " protagonist vs. antagonist".The authors tone is calm at first but then gets nervous and frightened because the the characters are getting chased by a monster while trying to save Toalas's aka the fairie's sisters. The character's motivation is that they have to save Toala's sisters and bring them back to the pond safely.
I was surprised when Nick was able to see the nixie. I was angry when the monster wanted to torture the characters. I liked the way the author explained how the characters felt throughout the story. If I were the author I would have more characters and more protagonist to make the story much more interesting and see how the characters got through their problems. My favorite part was the end when they killed the monster and now they are safe. An interesting part of the book was when almost near the end a lot of fairies came by their house. I thought the ending was good because it ended in a good way and everyone was safe after all. "The Nixies Song" is a good title for the book because it is pretty much was saved the characters from being chased and tortured by the monster because the monster would calm down when the nixie sang to it.
In conclusion, I rate this book three stars out of five stars because I wish it was more exciting and more mysterious. I recommend this book to someone who enjoys reading books about fantasy. Now we all know that faeries are not real. But what do you think you'd be doing this minute if they were?
December 18, 2022
I'm probably overrating this book, but I just LOVE the magic of Spiderwick!! Satisfying and relaxing read. Can't wait to read the rest of this spinoff.
August 14, 2019
Omg! I think I am in love with Holly and Tony for writing such an amazing series. The original series were all 5 🌟 for me and this spin-off series also started with a bang. Loved this book. It was sweet, amazing, short and a splendid read😊
August 24, 2022
Eleven year olds risking their lives to stop fantastical creatures. So cool.
June 25, 2013
In the continuing adventures that started with The Spiderwick Chronicles, DiTerlizzi and Black do not disappoint with their Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles series. This new adventure involves all new characters (with the Grace children thrown in for support), and the characters are just as interesting, engaging, and dynamic as those in the first series.
What I really love about this book, aside from the gorgeous illustrations and the driving plot, is the fact that the writers have the ability to create realistic characters. Not everyone is beautiful or smart or quick or athletic or happy. The characters seem like people I might know in real life, and I love that.
Although this story is book one in a series of three, I feel as though this section is complete. I want to buy the second book and see what happens, but I don't feel as though I have to buy it. This story had a beginning, middle, and end, and that makes me happy.
What I really love about this book, aside from the gorgeous illustrations and the driving plot, is the fact that the writers have the ability to create realistic characters. Not everyone is beautiful or smart or quick or athletic or happy. The characters seem like people I might know in real life, and I love that.
Although this story is book one in a series of three, I feel as though this section is complete. I want to buy the second book and see what happens, but I don't feel as though I have to buy it. This story had a beginning, middle, and end, and that makes me happy.
November 10, 2025
the kids were so annoying in this one. don't think I'll continue with the series.
December 6, 2019
This was okay I guess. Not as good as the original Spiderwick Chronicles but this was eh and okay.
April 5, 2025
I had a really good taste in books when i was a kid.
March 2, 2016
I think that this is not one of those amazing books that you know right at the beginning that it is going to be awesome. This book is about a boy that has been through something sad, his mother died when he was very young. When his father marries another woman with a daughter that believes in fairies and nixes and trolls. The boy doesn't believe in it and he thinks that it is dumb to believe in all those things but then one day a real fairy actually gives him the sight that makes him see fairies and trolls, maybe his sister isn't that bad after all. I don't love this book but I think its OK because it is not the best written and there aren't that many details. I recommend this book to people who like to read about fairies and trolls and things everyone knows are never gonna happen. I give this book three out of five stars.
December 16, 2015
I just started the Spiderwick Chronicles and I absolutely love it. I believe this book takes you to another magical world.If you read this book you will feel as if you just got transported with a goblin filled world.I recommend this book to people who like mythical and fantasy books.If you love the series of ''The Land of Stories'', you should read this book.By the time you finish one book you want to go to the next because the series is addicting.So next time you are deciding of another book to read ,read this book.
June 2, 2015
I really liked this book that I really wanted to read the second book of SPIDERWICK but my teacher said that she baerly order it and that it was going to come that maybe on Friday I liked how Nick got introuble just because he saved a Nixie's life and that he got in trouble because of his step sisters fault they killed the giant and found the sisters of the Nixie.
December 6, 2023
the original spiderwick chronicles felt like they were written by holly black , but this feels completely different. im gonna guess that tony diterlizzi wrote the majority of this & tbh its lost a lot of it’s magic :[
June 14, 2022
RE-READ June 2022!!
Just as magical and fun as I remember. :)
Just as magical and fun as I remember. :)
April 24, 2018
A short, fun read. A few questionable words, but nothing terrible! I enjoyed this book:)
May 29, 2019
Vermakelijk.
June 12, 2023
Si habéis leído mi reseña de "Las Crónicas de Spiderwick" sabréis que es una de mis sagas middle grade favoritas. 🍂 Tiene criaturas fantásticas, bonitas ilustraciones y una trama infantil que poco a poco se torna más y más oscura. 🤭
"El Canto de la Ondina"🐸, primer volumen del spin-off "Más Allá de Las Crónicas de Spiderwick"🍀, expande el universo creado por Tony DiTerlizzi y Holly Black, y nos presenta más criaturas, un nuevo elenco de protagonistas y varios problemas que resolver. Repite casi el mismo patrón que los libros originales, pero con algunas ideas nuevas e interesantes.
☀️ Las primeras novelas eran claramente otoño vibes 🍁, y aunque soy más fan de ese tipo de ambientación, creo que trasladarse a un verano húmedo y tormentoso en Florida es perfecto, porque justo es el clima que está haciendo ahora en mi ciudad mientras lo estoy leyendo. 🤣
☀️ Los diseños de las nuevas criaturas me gustan mucho y cómo siempre las ilustraciones de Tony son buenísimas. 🤩
☀️ Adoro los cameos y que la saga principal sea "canonicamente" (no sé si esa palabra existe 🤣) real dentro de esta nueva historia.
El punto negativo es que no todas estas nuevas ideas aciertan en la diana 🎯 o tienen, de momento, un desarrollo coherente. (Digo "de momento" porque ya he leído el segundo libro, y a falta de leer el tercero, algunas de estas cosas siguen sin convencerme 😅).
🌧️ Sin entrar en spoilers, que el cuaderno de Arthur Spiderwick se pueda comprar en cualquier librería contradice totalmente el conflicto de la saga principal. ¿Está guay? Sí. ¿Tiene sentido? Ninguno. 🤣
🌧️ Llevo dos libros de tres y quitando algún momento puntual, me cuesta cogerles cariño a los nuevos protagonistas. En el segundo libro, este punto mejora, pero tampoco mucho. 😅)
🌧️ Creo que los autores les faltó darle una vuelta al conflicto de la novela. Tenían una oportunidad INCREÍBLE de concienciar a los más pequeños sobre la importancia de conservar y respetar el medioambiente, de protegerlo para que los animales (en este caso, criaturas mágicas) que viven en él no vean alterado su hábitat por culpa del ser humano. Sin embargo, decidieron que el principal problema y los villanos fueran unos "monstruos" que llevan miles de años viviendo en unos bosques que los humanos han decidido talar y asfaltar para convertir la zona en una urbanización... USA yujuuuu! 🇺🇲🤣
CONCLUSIÓN ✨
Cumple su función, entretener y expandir el universo, pero es cierto que no tienen la magia que tenía la saga original. 3⭐
"El Canto de la Ondina"🐸, primer volumen del spin-off "Más Allá de Las Crónicas de Spiderwick"🍀, expande el universo creado por Tony DiTerlizzi y Holly Black, y nos presenta más criaturas, un nuevo elenco de protagonistas y varios problemas que resolver. Repite casi el mismo patrón que los libros originales, pero con algunas ideas nuevas e interesantes.
☀️ Las primeras novelas eran claramente otoño vibes 🍁, y aunque soy más fan de ese tipo de ambientación, creo que trasladarse a un verano húmedo y tormentoso en Florida es perfecto, porque justo es el clima que está haciendo ahora en mi ciudad mientras lo estoy leyendo. 🤣
☀️ Los diseños de las nuevas criaturas me gustan mucho y cómo siempre las ilustraciones de Tony son buenísimas. 🤩
☀️ Adoro los cameos y que la saga principal sea "canonicamente" (no sé si esa palabra existe 🤣) real dentro de esta nueva historia.
El punto negativo es que no todas estas nuevas ideas aciertan en la diana 🎯 o tienen, de momento, un desarrollo coherente. (Digo "de momento" porque ya he leído el segundo libro, y a falta de leer el tercero, algunas de estas cosas siguen sin convencerme 😅).
🌧️ Sin entrar en spoilers, que el cuaderno de Arthur Spiderwick se pueda comprar en cualquier librería contradice totalmente el conflicto de la saga principal. ¿Está guay? Sí. ¿Tiene sentido? Ninguno. 🤣
🌧️ Llevo dos libros de tres y quitando algún momento puntual, me cuesta cogerles cariño a los nuevos protagonistas. En el segundo libro, este punto mejora, pero tampoco mucho. 😅)
🌧️ Creo que los autores les faltó darle una vuelta al conflicto de la novela. Tenían una oportunidad INCREÍBLE de concienciar a los más pequeños sobre la importancia de conservar y respetar el medioambiente, de protegerlo para que los animales (en este caso, criaturas mágicas) que viven en él no vean alterado su hábitat por culpa del ser humano. Sin embargo, decidieron que el principal problema y los villanos fueran unos "monstruos" que llevan miles de años viviendo en unos bosques que los humanos han decidido talar y asfaltar para convertir la zona en una urbanización... USA yujuuuu! 🇺🇲🤣
CONCLUSIÓN ✨
Cumple su función, entretener y expandir el universo, pero es cierto que no tienen la magia que tenía la saga original. 3⭐
July 27, 2025
I'm just like who is this for? So odd to retcon the previous series, write yourselves literally into the story, and make the main character a scrouge.
I recently reread the Spiderwick books and that's how I found out this series existed. While some things do feel like the original series, it's missing a charm.
It makes no sense to give the Grace kids a different last name but let them keep their first names and "publish" their photos in the field guides. As well as their relatives names, where they live, what school events they attend.
The Grace kids fight a lot but I feel like we got to know them, these two not so much. One believes in faeries and the other is grumpy about everything.
I recently reread the Spiderwick books and that's how I found out this series existed. While some things do feel like the original series, it's missing a charm.
It makes no sense to give the Grace kids a different last name but let them keep their first names and "publish" their photos in the field guides. As well as their relatives names, where they live, what school events they attend.
The Grace kids fight a lot but I feel like we got to know them, these two not so much. One believes in faeries and the other is grumpy about everything.
December 27, 2025
So ein süßes Buch. Maybe mehr eine experience als wirklich ein gutes Buch. Für Kinder Super aber als Teenager is das pacing schon sehr gerushed und für die Komplexität der Geschichte hat das Buch auch viel zu wenig Seiten. Aber die Mischung aus Nostalgie, dem Setting und den WUNDERSCHÖNEN Illustrationen hält diese Geschichte zusammen und schafft es trotz allem mich tief in diese Welt zu emergen🤗 zumindest auf Englisch. Die Magic und whimsi von spiderwick chronicals will forever be unmatched 🥰
May 17, 2022
I want to read the whole series, I just didn't like how it got meta with the original books existing in this book's world. It took a little of the magic away somehow, you know what I mean? It would have sat at a perfectly respectable 3*, otherwise.
March 2, 2023
I grew up with the Spiderwick. I loved the original, and this is a perfect sequel to that.
November 28, 2017
I likely should have started with the original Spiderwick Chronicles series first instead of skipping to the sequel series instead, but I'm a rebel that way. This does make me curious on reading the original series, which I'll eventually get to. Written through the POV of the chubby and enjoyable character Nick, his family has been rather empty-hearted since his mother died and his father remarried. His older brother has vanished into phone calls, girls and video games - his father into his new wife. Enter a new stepsister he has to keep occupied, and fairies literally start coming out of the woodworks. The two team up with the originals from the first series to battle the beast, kind of. It's a fun start to a series, humorous writing, colorful characters, downright pretty illustrations, charming cover and concept.
June 5, 2023
Compared to the first 5 books in this series (the “original” Spiderwick Chronicles), this one was a bit disappointing. Nick was really rude and annoying and he made it a difficult book to enjoy. Laurie, on the other hand, was sweet and wonderful, and she reminded me a lot of the Grace kids from the first part of the series.
I did enjoy the faerie element and how everything came together by the end of the book. I’m interested to see how this series concludes! It’ll be fun to see if Laurie and Nick encounter any of the same faerie types as the Grace children.
I did enjoy the faerie element and how everything came together by the end of the book. I’m interested to see how this series concludes! It’ll be fun to see if Laurie and Nick encounter any of the same faerie types as the Grace children.
May 3, 2017
I enjoyed The Field Guide more, but this story wasn't bad. 8)
There's always fun to be found inside these Spiderwick books.~
There's always fun to be found inside these Spiderwick books.~
January 1, 2018
This was just sort of underwhelming. It didn't have the spark that the original series had.
February 28, 2025
Fun addition. Not as absorbing as the first ones, but still good.
November 10, 2022
I loved the original Spiderwick Chronicles storyline so much, it was literally a constant in my childhood(the movie), and I read the books for the first time earlier this year. This sequel series is good, but it just didn't have the same vibes as the o.g. series did for me.
I still really enjoyed the storyline: the mixed family dynamics and struggles, the accidently getting in trouble, and of course, the original characters cameos.
Sidenote: I don't know why, but I love the cover. I just wanted to take a second and acknowledge the beauty of it.
I still really enjoyed the storyline: the mixed family dynamics and struggles, the accidently getting in trouble, and of course, the original characters cameos.
Sidenote: I don't know why, but I love the cover. I just wanted to take a second and acknowledge the beauty of it.
March 21, 2025
We finished this last night. I could tell this book didn’t hold her attention as well as the rest of the series.
“And how would you rate this book?”
“Hmm… I don’t know. I miss the Grace kids.”
“So four stars?”
“Yeah four stars. We didn’t get to see Simon and Mallory at all…”
“And how would you rate this book?”
“Hmm… I don’t know. I miss the Grace kids.”
“So four stars?”
“Yeah four stars. We didn’t get to see Simon and Mallory at all…”
October 16, 2018
I'm a 4th grader & I loved this book. It was full of exciting moments while chasing a giant, I was on the edge of my seat (beanbag). I recommend this book for 4th graders through 6th grade.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 620 reviews