The Spiderwick Chronicles

The Spiderwick Chronicles is a series of children's books by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. They chronicle the adventures of the Grace children, twins Simon and Jared and their older sister Mallory, after they move into the Spiderwick Estate and discover a world of faeries that they never knew existed.

The first book, The Field Guide, was published in 2003 and then followed by The Seeing Stone (2003), Lucinda's Secret (2003), The Ironwood Tree (2004), and The Wrath of Mulgarath (2004). Several companion books have been published including Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You (2005), Notebook for Fantastical Observations (2005), and Care and Feeding of Sprites (2006). A second series, entitled Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles includes The Nixie's Song (2007), A Giant Problem (2008), and The Wyrm King (2009).

A feature film adaptation, also titled The Spiderwick Chronicles, was produced by Nickelodeon Movies and premiered on February 14, 2008; an accompanying video game was released in early February 2008.

The Spiderwick Chronicles (film)

The Spiderwick Chronicles is a 2008 American fantasy adventure film. It is the film adaptation of Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi's bestselling series of the same name. Set in the Spiderwick Estate in New England, United States, it follows the adventures of Jared Grace and his family as they discover a field guide to faeries, battle goblins, mole trolls and other magical creatures. It was directed by Mark Waters and stars Freddie Highmore, Sarah Bolger, Mary-Louise Parker, Martin Short, Nick Nolte, and Seth Rogen. Produced by Nickelodeon Movies and distributed by Paramount Pictures, it was released on February 14, 2008. The Spiderwick Chronicles received generally favorable reviews from critics and it earned $162,839,667 on a $90 million budget. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on June 24, 2008 in the United States.

Plot

Recently divorced Helen Grace (Mary-Louise Parker) moves into the Spiderwick Estate in the woods with her children when it is given to her by her elderly aunt Lucinda (Joan Plowright), though identical twins Jared and Simon (Freddie Highmore) and their older sister Mallory (Sarah Bolger) do not want to move from New York. When Jared uncovers a dumbwaiter system behind a wall, he finds a monogrammed key and discovers the study of the late owner of the estate, Arthur Spiderwick (David Strathairn). Jared then uses the key to open a chest. In it, he finds Spiderwick's field guide to faeries; although an attached note warns him not to read it, he does so anyway. When Jared explained about his discovery on the existence of magical creatures, Helen and Mallory don't believe him.