Chapter Book, Fantasy
Three Main Characters–older elementary school age–twin boys and older sister
Rating: How fast can I get book 3? (So, in other words, it’s great!)

Short, short summary: Jared, Simon, and Mallory Grace wrote a desperate letter to author Holly Black and illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi. With the letter, the children included a copy of a page from a faery book. The three children then met with Mrs. Black and told her the Spiderwick Chronicles. So, begins book one, which this review is not about. But I will tell you that in book one, the children find this faery book in a big, scary, run-down house they are living in with their mother. In book two, Simon is captured by goblins; and Mallory and Jared, along with the help of the seeing stone, rescue him from a cage in a tree before the goblins can do any harm to him. Along the way, they also rescue a hobgoblin named Hogsqueal, who gives them the Sight. The Sight allows humans to see all the creatures around them that are usually invisible to human eyes. The children’s mother knows nothing about this.

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Fantasy books are always great for talking to children about setting and creating worlds. Black and DiTerlizzi had to create rules for their fantasy world, even though this fantasy world takes place in a real setting (which is one of the reasons why these books appeal to children of all ages.) Many children love to write their own fantasy stories, but they do not make a set of rules before they start creating. One writing activity you can do in your classroom or with your own child is create a fantasy world witih a set of rules. For example, one rule in Black’s books is hobgoblin spit can give you the Sight. Before the children rub this on their eyes, they can not see the goblins without the seeing stone. That is a rule of this fantasy world. Maybe in your students’ fantasy worlds, dragons are alive and can be tamed if a person can look them straight in the eye, or wizards have to wear black socks as part of a secret society. I’m sure your students or your child can come up with some better rules for a fantasy world and then create a wonderful story.

2. A writing activity for this book would be for students to pretend they are Simon, stuck in the tree and watching the goblins. What did Simon see the goblins doing? How did he feel? Was he thinking of ways to get out of the tree? Was he trying to talk to any of the other captors?

3. Since this is a series, students can work on their prediction skills and then read book three to see if their predictions are correct. Students should write a paragraph about what they think will happen in book three. Give your students or your child book three’s title to help them with their predictions, and make sure they have read the two pages after the about the author pages at the end of book two. Book three is called Lucinda’s Secret.

If you’ve used any of The Spiderwick Chronicles in your classroom or library, please leave some activity ideas here under comments to share with other readers.

If you have a suggestion for a book for me to review and provide activities, please email me at margodll@aol.com or leave a comment here. I’ll see what I can do.