The Chronicles of Spiderwick: A Grand Tour of the Enchanted World, Navigated by Thimbletack

The Spiderwick Chronicles - Companion Books

by Tony DiTerlizzi (Author & Illustrator), Holly Black, Mark Stevens (Designer)

Their world is closer than you think! From the #1 New York Times bestselling series comes an interactive look at the world of Spiderwick.

Take a tour with Thimbletack, resident and caretaker of the Spiderwick mansion, as he guides you through his scrapbook and personal collection of faerie artifacts. Learn the history of the Spiderwick estate and its former occupants; peruse lost letters that uncover long-hidden secrets; browse through personal items from the Grace kids; and read clips of stories from around the world about other encounters with strange and mythical creatures. The Chronicles of Spidewick comes complete with pullouts, pop-ups, foldouts, and more.

Their world has arrived.
Dare to step inside?

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

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

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

[katyjanereads · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. Not really any new information on the faerie world.
2. We did get new information on the Grace family which was neat.
3. The scrapbook feel of the book was fantastic and fun. So much to look at and take in.
4. I got a library copy of the book so some things were missing out of the envelopes. Shoot.
5. I heart Thimbletack and Hogsqueal. I loved the list of insults of Hogsqueals.
6. I also loved the family tree.

[Kristen Harvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love the Spiderwick Chronicles and so I immensely enjoyed this book - an assortment of letters and whatnot relating to the books. Very cute and very interesting.

[Travis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this on a lark after learning of its existence as it passed through the library. As often happens when rating things, two stars seems a bit harsh, but the linked phrase "it was ok" matches my feelings perfectly. The Spiderwick Chronicles series is fun enough, but I always felt the main highlight for it was Tony DiTerlizzi's art. His art that is featured in this book is recycled from other works, and it is mixed with a bunch of other art which either mimics a found-object/scapbook style, is just bad, or both. And it's not like the "lore" of the Spiderwick family or the setting is really all that interesting in the first place.

I imagine it would be a fun book for someone who really, really loves the series, but otherwise not really worth it in my opinion.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had so much fun reading this book! The book has some really interesting interactive stuff throughout it, they were extremely interesting and fun!. I especially enjoyed the pocket in which you find a full color map of The Spiderwick Estate and Surrounding Areas.

Another thing I loved is that extracts of the diaries of some of the characters are scattered throughout the book, like Mallory, Jared, Simon, Arthur Spiderwick etc.

The riddles inside the book are so much fun, in my opinion. You also learn some things about the fantastical cretures which appear throughout the series.
It is such a wonderful book, and by reading it you lern more things about the Spiderwick Chronicles. I'm very glad thet I own it, because you can only buy it from secondhand stores nowadays.

[Abendstern · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nicht viel Inhalt, für den Preis.

[Aurumora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nette Ergänzung zum Spiderwick Universum. Nette Nebengeschichten, die ein bisschen Einblick die die Recherche der Autoren bringen. Leider ist die Schrift manchmal recht klein und unleserlich.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful "scrapbook" by Thimbletack with lots of additional information about the series, highly recommend for fans.

[Jessica Vroman · Rating 5 out of 5]

2 Thumbs up 👍👍

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great for kids. Interactive pieces make it more immersive. Also great for feeling like a kid again for a few pages.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a really cute scrapbook. I say “cute” but it does delve into the darker aspects of the story, such as the tragic accidents that happen to people because of faeries and the aftermath of Arthur’s disappearance. It also goes into Helen and Richard’s divorce and Jared’s suspensions and expulsions. It’s mostly a gathering of Arthur’s notes and drawings, newspaper clippings, letters, emails, old pictures, and Thimbletack’s little notes commenting on each category. There are several fun flaps to open and pockets in which to find things, like smaller booklets. There are also things that bring more realism to the Grace family, such as old pictures, a family tree, and a map of their house (finally! I love maps!), not to mention a number of official documents. A lot of effort has been put into this scrapbook. It gives an overview of some of the faeries they have encountered, but it mostly pertains to the specific ones they met, as opposed to the Guide, which goes much more in-depth about the species in general. There are also fun “artifacts” (drawings) that Thimbletack has scavenged from the Grace family, like things they’ve left lying around the house or thrown out. I wish there was more of Thimbletack’s narration, as the extended title touts, but it’s still cute. I admit I found the family tree a tad boring since we never heard about most of the people, but it was helpful in envisioning exactly what Lucinda’s and Arthur’s relation to them was. Also, Arthur’s handwriting was small and cursive and a little hard to decipher, but not impossible. I did love reading about his naturalist adventures.

So it’s a small overview of a lot of aspects of the book (people, places, creatures) put together in a fun style. It’s a fast read and a good companion to the series.

See the full review on my blog, Awesome Book Assessment.

[Iben · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you, like me, often are a little sad when finishing a book (and of course if you liked The Chronicles of Spiderwick), this will be a great book for you. There isn't any story in it, but it is much fun to look at all the notes (and compare them to your own (if you make any)).
Futhermore if it very beautiful and it can be hard to tear your eyes away from it.

[Deb · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is like a private journal, full of handwritten notes, and taped-in pictures, article cut-outs, maps, diagrams, etc. A great visual book - one your pre-teen/young teens will want to own. Humorous; quirky; engaging; non-patronizing.

[Larecia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun book that is pretty much a collection of maps, journals, pictures, sketches and other inserts that children can pull out and observe, they have the opportunity to feel like real field detectives as they investigate and explore the imaginary world of Spiderwick.

[Gracie · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was like the short and awesome version of all the books combined. it was aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssssssssssoooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ( im sorry i went kinda crazy)

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want it for x-mas! please buy!

[Keely · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great, fun book. Beautifully Illustrated.

[Beth Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not an intense read, more of a coffee table book with little flaps and envelopes hiding Spiderwick secrets. Cute.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these kids of books!! it was cool!!!!!!!

[Nicole Shelby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hannah and I've been looking at this together. She thought the interactive element was so cool that we've been designing and creating a similar style book about her life and family.

[Akshay · Rating 1 out of 5]

n thing
ewfdddddddddddddddddddddd

[Roze Andrielle]

good

[Caye Blanchard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully done.