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The Field Guide (The Spiderwick Chronicles, Book 1) (Hardcover)

by Holly Black (Author), Tony DiTerlizzi (Author, Illustrator) "If someone had asked Jared Grace what jobs his brother and sister would have when they grew up, he would have had no trouble replying..." (more)
Key Phrases: Jared Grace, Arthur Spiderwick

4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (143 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
The first book in a beautifully produced series of five, The Field Guide sets up the story of the Grace children--13-year-old Mallory and 9-year-old twins Jared and Simon--who with their mother move into the dilapidated Spiderwick Estate only to quickly find themselves sucked into a dark and fascinating world of faeries.

Superficially, the Spiderwick Chronicles smack of Lemony Snicket, with its "true story" setup and breathless warnings ("Go away/close the book/put it down/do not look"). But Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black owe no one for the intensely absorbing world they've created. Black certainly showed fey promise in her slightly freaky debut and DiTerlizzi has weird cred to spare, from his zany Jimmy Zangwow to countless credits for the Magic: The Gathering card game.

By combining their ample skill with thoughtful art direction and demanding production values, the duo has succeeded in creating a series with irresistible appeal. Each book promises a quick read, snappy plot progression, and dozens of DiTerlizzi's imaginative pen-and-ink drawings. So if you're drawn to The Field Guide at all, you might as well save yourself the trouble and make sure you have the second book (The Seeing Stone handy. (Ages 6 to 10) --Paul Hughes

Review
"With their evocative gothic-style pencil drawings and color illustrations, rhyming riddles, supernatural lore, and well-drawn characters, these books read like old-fashioned ripping yarns." -- New York Times Book Review

"The books wallow in their dusty Olde Worlde charm: Faeries! Dumbwaiters! Attics! But then, reading has an old-fashioned charm too." -- Time magazine

"Appealing characters, well-measured suspense and an inviting package will lure readers...younsgters may well find themselves glancing over their shoulders." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

Reading level: Ages 9-12
Hardcover: 128 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing; FIRST EDITION 8th printing edition (May 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0689859368
ISBN-13: 978-0689859366
Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.6 x 0.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (143 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #124,962 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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This is item 1 in The Spiderwick Chronicles Series.

Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
If someone had asked Jared Grace what jobs his brother and sister would have when they grew up, he would have had no trouble replying. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Jared Grace, Arthur Spiderwick

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

Citations (learn more)

This book cites 2 books:

Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale by Holly Black in Back Matter
The Spider and the Fly by Mary Howitt in Back Matter

100 books cite this book:

A Field Guide to Western Birds: A Completely New Guide to Field Marks of All Species Found in North America West of the 100th Meridian and North of Mexico by Roger Tory Peterson on 4 pages
Africa's Top Wildlife Countries, Sixth Edition by Mark W. Nolting on 4 pages
Field Guide to Deep-Sky Objects by Mike Inglis on page 205, page 246, and page 296
Race and the Invisible Hand: How White Networks Exclude Black Men from Blue-Collar Jobs (George Gund Foundation Book in African American Studies) by Deirdre A. Royster in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
Winter Moon (Seasons of the Moon, Vol 2) by Jean Craighead George in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)

See all 100 books citing this book

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	58% buy the item featured on this page: The Field Guide (The Spiderwick Chronicles, Book 1) 4.3 out of 5 stars (143) $8.61
	19% buy Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You (Spiderwick Chronicles) 4.9 out of 5 stars (67) $18.96
	14% buy The Spiderwick Chronicles (Boxed Set): The Field Guide; The Seeing Stone; Lucinda's Secret; The Ironwood Tree; The Wrath of Mulgrath 4.6 out of 5 stars (149) $31.49
	5% buy A Giant Problem (Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles) 4.3 out of 5 stars (12) $8.61

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Customer Reviews

143 Reviews

5 star:		(80)
4 star:		(39)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

Average Customer Review

4.3 out of 5 stars (143 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

61 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating read & challenging riddles., June 12, 2003

By	Alison A. Parker "sleepy law student" (St. Pete, FL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Field Guide, in my mind, is superior in the realm of children's lit. Even in the present-day "Renaissance of Children's Literature" it is not often that one stumbles across a book with some many postive characteristics.
For one, I do not understand the hullabaloo surrounding the similarity in packaging to the Lemony Snicket books. This book was not dark or full of satire like the Series of Unfortunate Events books. Truly, the packaging of these series is where the similarities begin and end.
These series is probably more appropriate for a younger audience as well, except for one expletive ("crap") that adults may find objectionable.
The family dynamics are believeable. The sibliings love each other and help each other out, but that doesn't stop rivalry or redicule.
The story begins as the family moves into a new house, sans the father. After some exploring with the dumbwaiter, the children find mystifying secrets. The author's secrets are tough to figure out, but is good for mind-stretching purposes.
I would especially recommend this book for children who may be too young for Harry Potter.

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26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Put this on the top of your reading list, May 12, 2003

By	Danielle (Linthicum, MD USA) - See all my reviews

All the things a kid could ever want in a book--Faeries, Goblins, secret rooms, and a quick read to boot. I frequent the library, but felt these books were so fantastic I had to buy copies of my own. The illustrations by Tony DiTerlizzi are wonderful, and I found myself eager to turn each page to see the next picture, as well as to read what would happen in the story. The style of the books are eerily similar to that of Lemony Snicket-- there are three siblings who find themselves in some sort of trouble or danger in each book, a letter from the author, and a snippet on the back of each book with reasons why you shouldn't read the story. Still, the events in the books were very original and kept me entertained. I can't wait for the rest of the series to be released (there are five books total). A must read!!

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29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Start, June 21, 2004

By	T. Burger (Chicago) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

What better place to begin a children's fantasy series than a mysterious, run-down old Victorian? Anyone that knows anything about Victorians knows that they have enormous storytelling potential, as many of the larger, older ones have attics and crawl spaces galore. A perfect place for faeries, good or bad, to be hiding out, and for children to go exploring.

For a twin, poor Jared Grace seems oddly the quintessential loner - the typical setup character who sees and believes in the elements of fantasy first, but whom nobody believes. Nevertheless, it's impossible, through both the writing and the deft illustrations throughout, not to have empathy for him. I "fell in love with" Jared in the first two pages, and maintained that throughout the story, which, while short, was still lively and well paced. Jared, who characterizes himself through the narrator as aimless and not the smart one (the smart one is Simon, his twin), is the character who is determined to solve the clues he is faced with, and upon realization that their families disruption of a faerie creatures habitat is the cause of all of their weird troubles, sets the situation right all by himself.

While comparisons to Lemony Snicket are inevitable, I found more similarities to L. Frank Baum, particularly in chapter titles, such as "In Which Two Walls are Explored by Vastly Different Methods". I particuarly enjoyed the drawing of the boggart in the final scene, as it was reminiscent of Jon O'Neil's wonderful and still (in my opinion) unparalleled artistry in children's books from the Wizard of Oz series. And kids - if you haven't read all of Baum's Oz books, rush to the library or beg your parents to buy them for you here on Amazon (*grin*) for they are amazing and wonderful, and in this most delightful rennaisance of children's fantasy, should not be forgotten. More than one hundred years ago, L. Frank Baum started it all.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Click clack watch your back
According to Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi, the text of this story was left for them by three mystery kids. Read more

Published 1 hour ago by E. A Solinas

5.0 out of 5 stars crazy or courageous
I am glad that these books have been made available to us but as I read them I cannot help but wonder if the kids that found the guide were not very wise ignoring the order to... Read more

Published 3 days ago by W. Jamison

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun Book for All Ages
I wasn't too sure what I was getting into when I started this book and I must say that I was much more than pleasantly surprised. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Stefan Yates

4.0 out of 5 stars A Bit of a Slow Start
The Grace Family has been going through some hard times. The parents have divorced. Jared has taken it harder than his siblings and started getting into trouble. Read more

Published 3 months ago by Mark Baker

4.0 out of 5 stars For Adults Also

I wasn't sure what to expect of this book that my daughter brought home from the library, but on her recommendation, I thought I'd give it a try. Fabulous! Read more

Published 4 months ago by Arianna

1.0 out of 5 stars Such a waste of fancy paper and illustrator's time!
We got the beautiful collection trunk valued over $100. It's filled with a great variety of expensive paper treatments and gorgeous illustrations (although most of them are... Read more

Published 8 months ago by N. Gerzhgorina

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for kids
After seeing the movie, which I loved, I purchased this book to give it a try. I know it's a children's book but thought what the heck. Read more

Published 12 months ago by Mercedes

3.0 out of 5 stars Cute but not Compelling
I bought this book for myself not my kids. That may have been my first mistake. But I had suddenly felt out of the book series "bandwagon" loop so I decided to start reading this... Read more

Published 13 months ago by Marjorie

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, Quick Read
This first book in the Spiderwick Chronicles was a fun, quick read. Although smacking a little bit of Lemony Snicket (three kids with unique skills and parent-abandonment issues),... Read more

Published 14 months ago by Christopher Mahoney

5.0 out of 5 stars Emily from Lake Tapps says, "The Best Book Ever!!"
When the Grace family goes from their tiny apartment to a creaky old run down house... they find a secret inside the old house, a fantastical world around them. Read more

Published 15 months ago

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