Customer Reviews

The Spiderwick Chronicles Deluxe Collector's Trunk

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I ordered this set for my son's tenth birthday. You would have thought he'd been given a treasure chest full of gold from his reaction. He loves the books and the treasure chest was a special treat. The set comes with a notebook for responses and for creating one's own illustrations. The chest itself is much sturdier than I expected. It's not flimsy paperboard. The top folds down in hinged sections and closes with a magnet strip. All in all an excellent gift for Spiderwick loving readers. For a few days after his b-day he called me into his room several times a day just to show me the chest, the books and the notebook!

According to Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi, the text of this story was left for them by three mystery kids.

With that stab at blurring the boundaries between fantasy and reality, these two authors slip easily into a haunted house tale that rapidly blossoms into a story of hidden fae and strange creatures. "The Spiderwick Chronicles (Boxed Set)" brings together five extremely brief little books that form one overarcing story, which becomes more tense and eerie as it winds to the inevitable battle with the Big Bad.

After their parents' divorce, the Grace kids -- teenage Mallory and nine-year-old twins Jared and Simon -- move with their mother to a crumbling old Victorian house, owned by a weird old aunt. Jared is having a rough time with all of this, but he's distracted from his personal woes by a "squirrel" scuttling around inside the walls. And their investigations reveal a strange little stash of items that were obviously not taken by a squirrel.

An exploratory trip in a dumbwaiter takes Jared to a hidden library full of strange books on mythic creatures -- and soon strange things start happening to the family. Jared's further investigations uncover a strange little book called "Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide To The Fantastical World Around You," a little guide to faery creatures. Jared begins to believe that the unbelievable might be true -- that there are faeries causing trouble in his new home.

But it becomes painfully obvious what is up when various creatures try to get ahold of the book -- Simon is kidnapped by omnivorous goblins, a search for Arthur Spiderwick leads the kids into a elven trap deep in the woods, and Mallory is sealed in a glass box by malevolent dwarves deep inside an old quarry. But the one who really wants the Guide is Mulgarath, a terrible creature who (surprise!) wants to conquer the world -- and he'll take their mother to accomplish it.

For the record, this is a short series full of short books. Each book is only about a hundred pages of heavily-illustrated text, and we're not talking large pages. They're more like the chapters of a longer novel, meaning that older children and adults will find them ultra-quick and simple.

But Holly Black's writing style definitely makes it worth reading (such as the descriptions of stalactites "hanging above them like a forest of icicles"). Though the storyline is pretty simple, she weaves a web of subtle, eerie strangeness around the seemingly ordinary circumstances (such as elderly, seemingly batty Aunt Lucinda), to the point where you can almost believe that missing cats were eaten by hobgoblins.

And despite the Victorian house, the sprites and faery creatures here are anything but Victorian -- sometimes ugly, bizarre or malicious, and with their own strange ways (the beautiful, ruthless elves) and preoccupation (the dwarves' obsession with making forests of "ironwood" trees). And there are plenty of weird side-creatures: lake trolls, fey doppelgangers, metal dogs, haughty nature-robed elves, a "knocker" who escorts the kids underground, and so on.

And Tony DiTerlizzi's artwork is simply perfect for the story that he and Black are telling. He crafts lots of intricate pen-and-ink drawings, shadowy depictions of the decayed Victorian mansion, and illustrations of the weirder aspects of the Spiderwick estate (like the dusty library, or Mallory suspended in a glass box in medieval clothes). There are even pages and scribbled-on pages from Arthur Spiderwick, expulsion notices, and more.

The main characters are also quite believable: Mallory is a loving but slightly brittle teenager, and the mom is clearly struggling to stay afloat after her divorce. Simon is a tidy animal enthusiast, while the more prominent Jared is a kid who is starting to sink into trouble after his parents' divorce, only to find new and unexpected strength when he discovers the world of the Guide. The biggest problem is that the kids bicker a lot, which becomes a bit tedious after awhile -- even if it is likely.

The collector's deluxe trunk is a good treat for big fans of the series who want all the trappings -- it has a little trunk to stick everything in (which looks nicely aged and dusty), the "Notebook for Fantastical Observations" (a sort of cutesy notebook with half-stories and blank spaces), and some pretty picture cards.

"The Spiderwick Chronicles" is a solid brief story spread over five small books, building up a sense of suspense, eerie fantasy and otherworldly creatures. Beautifully written if a wee bit simple for older readers.

my daughter was thrilled to open this at Christmas and especially enjoyed having a collector's box to hold her books (and treasures!) in.

I was really pleased with this set. The trunk is sturdy cardboard and has a hidden magnetic snap shut closure all along the front edge - slightly magical in the way it clunks shut. It is decorated on every side on the outside and on the inner lid.

The 5 story books are hardback about 100 pages long and as a nice touch the paper edges are uneven and different sizes to give them an old spooky book feel. It does make it a little difficult to turn the pages which may put off younger readers. The postcards are sealed together in sellophane and the 215+ page notebook is paperback.

It is slightly smaller than I imagined but a lovely looking set and would make an ideal gift (athough get Amazon to deliver to a gift address as it's very heavy).

The stories themselves are wonderfully magical and should appeal to any Harry Potter fan. They are wonderfully illustrated with black and white drawings but also a colour plate on each first page giving them an old book feel. The books are short but make wonderful stories to read aloud for children and easier books to finish for junior readers age 7+.

The books in the set are American versions - the prices are in dollars and the books themselves are full of American language like 'Mom' etc which is to be expected as the book is about 3 American children who move into a spooky house and get into dangerous adventures with all manner of mystical and magical creatures.

I got this for my son as he was excited over the upcoming movie. My son has never been a big fan of reading but since he has gotten the chronicle collector's books he has not been able to put them down. It has been wonderful to watch him get excited over a book. I highly recommend this to all parents. It is definitely great to read together.

I bought these for my 7 year old boy and he was absolutely delighted! He is so excited about having his own field guide to make notes in and the questions it asks really helps spark the imaginations! The magnet closing of the trunk is nice (nothing to get broken) the chest is smaller than I expected but such a fun place to store the books. Well worth the money!

Although the treasure box is much smaller than I envisioned, the package as a whole was a good Christmas gift. Either way my husband will enjoy reading the collection.

This is a beautiful hardback set with nice bindings, illustrations & of course, a wonderful imaginative story line! A great gift, at a great price that will last a lifetime. I highly recommend this set. I purchased 2 sets for gifts!

I snatched this set up because, of course, my daughter (age seven) loves "Spiderwick" and cool storage boxes. With books, I think that the joy they bring is immune to age boundaries. When I decided to purchase this set, I could not even find it on ebay, and it's not like they are still producing them, so that fact convinced me to purchase it even more. I do believe in not purchasing books if they can be found at your local library, but I threw caution to the wind...I want my daughter to be able to glide through the series with no interruptions to dilute the magic. The included notebook can be actually utilized for "fantastical observations", and the trunk's inside lid is adorned with "photos" of Arthur Spiderwick and family, the Spiderwick estate, Thimbletack, and sprites. We do not have any issues with the capacity of the trunk; without the books inside, it can hold enough treasures to make Thimbletack proud. Great price for something that was about $70.00 at one time.

Loved this collection, and loved didn't have to buy individually, was here fast, and great quality.