After seeing Spiderwick Chronicles in the movie theater, I thought that my daughter might enjoy reading the five book series on which the movie was based. I'd found used copies at Powell's in Portland (coolest store ever, by the way) but when I brought them home I realized that the writing might be just under my nine-year-old daughter's level, but just above my six-year-old son's. So I thought I'd try and read them aloud to both kids and see if there was interest. Whether it was the guaranteed half hour of entertainment listening to mom exercise her old theater skills or the fantastical story so well written, both kids are now big fans of the series and for weeks begged for just "one chapter more."

The first book in the Spiderwick Chronicles series is The Field Guide. At just 107 pages, the book is broken up into seven chapters, each perfect for a single night's reading (though to be honest, I rarely was able to read only one chapter, and usually read two).

The Grace family, minus a father, is trying to start their lives over again. Mom Grace is moving the family to Spiderwick Estate, an old creepy mansion that belongs to her Aunt Lucinda. Aunt Lucinda, however, is "in a nuthouse." Creepy things begin happening immediately, and as Jared is the Grace child who'd gotten into the most trouble, he's quickly blamed for tying his older sister Mallory's hair to her bedposts, and his twin Simon's being beaten up.

When the children find a secret room at the top of the house, Jared discovers their Great Uncle Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You. They go on to meet Thimbletack, the house brownie who turns into a boggart when angered. The little brownie is the center of the basic conflict in this first book, as the children learn to accept the reality they never before knew existed.

The Field Guide is written mostly from Jared's third person point of view, as he finds the Field Guide, discovers the creatures, enlists his siblings and communicates with Thimbletack. Each of the chapters are enticing spoilers cluing the readers into what will be found, such as Chapter Four: In Which There Are Answers Although Not Necessarily to the Right Questions or Chapter Six: In Which They Find Unexpected Things in the Icebox.

The action definitely doesn't kick in here in the first book, as it's mostly setup for the remaining four books, but the tension and promise of action to come is quite evident and in no way detracted from the overall enjoyment. The books themselves are quite small, one may say about the size of a pocket field guide. Tony DiTerlizzi's illustrations scattered throughout the book were perfect. Every few pages, we would stop reading to study the pictures, looking for our own clues.

Holly Black wrote the series, and I found everything to be just about perfect. Not only did my nine-year-old love the book, but my six-year-old, whose attention span is noticeably less, clamored every night for more of The Field Guide. That to me is the greatest recommendation.

Author Websites: www.blackholly.com ~ www.diterlizzi.com