 "Must make haste, no time to waste" | 2009-08-13 |
| - Reviewed By la_solinas |
According to Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi, the text of this story was left for them by three mystery kids.
And after spending the first book introducing the world of strange fey creatures, the second book in the Spiderwick Chronicles deals with the first clash with them. "The Seeing Stone" throws our three juvenile heroes into the midst of grotesque and eerie creatures, and despite the book's tiny size, it's a solid little fantasy story.
After a rotten day at school, Jared's day actually manages to get worse -- he sees Simon being captured by an invisible force and dragged into the woods. According to Thimbletack, he was kidnapped by goblins -- and now if Mallory and Jared want to save him, they have to use the "lens of stone" to find him (sort of a multi-lensed viewing monocle that lets you see faerie creatures). And Jared is desperate enough to take it.
But the lens only allows them to SEE the goblins -- fighting them is a much harder problem, and they only have a short time before the monsters try to EAT Simon. With only the lens and a few small weapons, they venture off into the forest... but there are dangers other than the goblins in the woods nearby, and even if they find him, how can they avoid being captured as well?
A wounded griffin, a sludgy lake troll, grotesque toadlike goblins and little leaf-winged grass-haired sprites -- Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi certainly up the amount of supernatural goings-on in "The Seeing Stone." And given a late development that allows the kids to see the stranger side of the world, these aren't going to be the last fey creature they encounter in this series.
And Black and DiTerlizzi's shared writing style brings this seemingly simple tale to exquisite, creepy life ("Hairless cat-like ears stuck up from their heads, and their teeth were pieces of shattered glass and small jagged rocks"). Though the storyline is pretty simple, the writing weaves a web of subtle, eerie strangeness around the seemingly ordinary circumstances, and makes it almost believable that evil goblins might be in the woods near your home.
And Tony DiTerlizzi's artwork is simply perfect for the story that he and Black are telling. Lots of intricate pen-and-ink drawings, depicting the pretty ethereal nature sprites, the weird multilensed "seeing stone," the drippy long-nosed troll, and spiky trees hung with cages. The highlights are an old newspaper clipping about a boy gone missing -- it seems to be important, though not yet clear.
Simon basically serves as a damsel in this book, but Jared's intense attachment to his twin is shown by him almost throttling Thimbletack to get the lens, and Mallory gets to kick goblin butt with her fencing sword. What's more, the kids' involvement in the world of the fey becomes more concrete when they gain a brand-new pet. Wonder how their mom will react.
The second chapter of the Spiderwick Chronicles, "The Seeing Stone," expands the eerie fey world into the more everyday one, and adds in some very nasty little creatures. It's sure to only get worse. |
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 "Are we safe yet?" | 2009-07-11 |
| - Reviewed By billjamison |
Thank goodness with a little help the kids have been safe so far but things do not look very good with all of the new things they are learning about the creatures in the woods around them. How can they expect to be safe?
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| "Things Heat Up with Book Two" | 2009-03-19 |
| - Reviewed By carstairs38 |
It's been a couple of weeks, and the Grace family is settling into their new home. Then the new cat that Simon has adopted disappears. Simon insists on looking for it, only to disappear himself. Jared watches as Simon is attacked by something that Jared can't see. Quickly getting their sister Mallory, Jared searches for a way to see what is happening. Can he find his brother and fight off the mystery attackers?
While I felt the first book got off to a slow start, this one didn't have that problem. The plot starts quickly and never slows down. The characters are a bit more developed here as well, although there is very little time to truly develop them. Once again, the book is short, but since it is a serialized story, that's not a problem. And the detailed illustrations add much to the book.
You could start here if you really wanted to, although the background of the first book would give you the most information. Either way, you'll enjoy the adventures of the Grace children. |
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 "The spiderWick Chronicles" | 2009-03-16 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2O8NQ34H40IKI |
Who doesn't like exploring the out doors, especially when it's warm and sunny. The whole Grace family like's to. They all think that the world should turn into a fantasy life. The main characters are Jared, Simon, and Mallory. Mallory likes to fence and explore. She is the most active of the family. Simon likes to read and explore as well. Jared likes to risk his life for the animals that are traped.
They never complain, and very generous. They help each other when they're in trouble. They get along well. The three kids are trying to keep a book away from these goblins that want it because they were the owners of the book when their great grandpa took the book away and hid it.
Many readers will enjoy the ending of the book. The author's want you to try to read the whole series of the Spiderwick Chronicles. The genre of this book is mystery and fantasy. The fantasy is the goblins and the other magical animals. The mystery is that Jared, Simon, and Mallory don't know whats coming up next in their adventure. What I liked about book two in the series is that they helped the animals that were about to get eaten. When the kids go exploring that would be man V.S. nature because the kids like to go exploring after school. I would recommend this book to a 11-13 year old boy who likes mysterious books.
From,
China Wok
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 "Getting tedious" | 2008-09-30 |
| - Reviewed By User: ACTLZ63FE01J4 |
We read the first book & it was okay. It showed promise for the series as it seemed to be setting up a mystery. We did like the characters. Very short, though, with no ending...the three books we read are so brief and had no endings so that they really seem to be chapters of one, single story. Very expensive to buy each book individually.
As for this second book, my niece, nephew, & we did think it was scary and not appropriate for younger grade-schoolers (they are older grade school). Even though there were scary parts, we quickly became bored. The events and faeries/creatures were just so randomly introduced that there does not seem to be a story line. It seemed like the same sort of thing would just keep happening as time went on. The characters had very little control - unless they would have gotten rid of the field guide which they didn't (and without which, there would have been no story). Even though we assumed things would be explained later in other books, we were left feeling uninterested. I would just like to recommend that parents read the first two books before letting their kids read them so parents know what is in store. This was just not for us. |
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