James Thurber - Many Moons

This is a very cute picture book and I can imagine it will be an absolute delight for any little girl to read. I've not seen the book with the original illustrations but Marc Simont's watercolour drawings are gorgeous to look at - a perfect fit with the adorable and endearing story of Many Moons. I don't know if it stands out as an instant classic as many reviewers have said on Amazon; however, it certainly won't be amiss in a little one's library. A must for all the princesses out there!

James Thurber - The 13 Clocks

I sought out this book because it was highly recommended by Neil Gaiman on Amazon. Thankfully, my local library made the purchase and I was able to borrow it. The 13 Clocks is a clever little fairy tale that is deceptively simple and charming. Kids will find it a blast but I think it will also appeal to the older crowd. Thurber's amazing use of language, including all the delightful made-up words (which I'm trying to work into my vocabulary range), really adds to the story and I can imagine kids just begging for more when it's read aloud to them. This doesn't quite make it to my list of all-time favourites as the story is just far too brief, but it sure is an enchanting and wonderful fairy tale that all ages can enjoy.

Holly Black & Tony DiTerlizzi - The Nixie's Song (Beyond The Spiderwick Chronicles, Book 1)

Compared to the original Spiderwick Chronicles, I think this one was a bit of a disappointment. The two main leads in this -- Nick and Laurie -- are not very likeable and verge on annoying for me. The nixie that they save is creepy and seems to be just as capable of inflicting harm on the kids as the giant. The 'cameo' by the authors in the book felt misplaced and did nothing for the story. I suspect they must have thought it very clever at the time but I certainly didn't think so, espeically when they presented themselves as frauds in the book and not really the experts on the faerie world. For me, that joke didn't work but backfired instead. The illustrations have always been great and they remain so in The Nixie's Song; I just wish the story-telling was better. I will still check out the next book when it comes out just to see what happens, but at this stage, I'm not expecting much!

Holly Black & Tony DiTerlizzi - The Wrath of Mulgarath (The Spiderwick Chronicles, Book 5)

Ahhh... the last one in the series. Personally, I feel that these books are way too short to be standalone stories (unlike the Chronicles of Narnia) and perhaps would have worked better as a single volume. Then again, I am not exactly part of the target audience so such bite-size morsels may have been the most effective way to reach the intended readers. Luckily, I did not have to wait for each release and could read all five in one go. Now that I have read the books, I am quite pleased to say that I am really happy with how the movied turned out. In fact, I think I may prefer the movie to the books, although the books are entertaining in their own right. I like the use of the 'protective circle' for the house, which helped to explain why the house remained untouched for so many decades. In the book, Mulgarath ransacked and destroyed the house, finding the Guide in the process; why didn't this occur much earlier and only when the Grace family moved into the Spiderwick estate? In the movie, Simon discovers the use of tomato sauce as a weapon against the goblins and prepares bags of it using a recipe from the Guide; in the book, this is hinted at as Jared threatens the use of it on the hobgoblin but there is no mention of where Jared gained this knowledge. Presumably, it's from the Guide but readers have to make their own assumptions. Overall, I feel the movie provides more cohesive explanations whereas things just happen in the books and readers are made to accept that that's how they are meant to be. I think it would have been nice if the movie had kept the book's ending, although the film version where Arthur and Lucy were reunited was also a nice touch. May be a little tricky to explain where a grown woman disappeared to though! Overall, it has been fun to read the Spiderwick Chronicles and I'm glad the movie led me to these books, which I'm sure have brought much joy to young readers.

Holly Black & Tony DiTerlizzi - The Ironwood Tree (The Spiderwick Chronicles, Book 4)

In The Ironwood Tree, Mallory is kidnapped by dwarves, who are under the command of the ogre, Mulgarath, and Jared and Simon go off to rescue her. Book 4 takes on a slightly darker tone than the previous books, with some true tension in the Grace family -- when Jared overhears his mother making an exasperated call to their father as she is at wit's end as to how to deal with Jared and his anger; when Jared explodes at Simon as they try to get to bottom at the quarry, unsure of how to control his temper. There have been hints of the underlying tension in the previous books as the Grace family (minus the father) makes a fresh start at the Spiderwick estate, but it is only in this book that shows how the divorce and separation of the family have affected them, especially Jared. There is also a massacre of the dwarves by Mulgarath's army of goblins, which would have been quite a confronting sight for the little kiddies if it were included in the movie! This was another quick and fairly enjoyable read, although some parts felt like filler sections and were not central to the story. For example, what need was there for Mulgarath to shape-shift and appear at the school? You would think that he would just send one of his minions, rather than the head honcho making an appearance himself. It just didn't quite make sense. Regardless, this was a decent effort and set up the scene for the showdown with Mulgarath in the last book of the series.

Holly Black & Tony DiTerlizzi - Lucinda's Secret (The Spiderwick Chronicles, Book 3)

I picked up the last three books in the Spiderwick Chronicles from the library last night and polished them off the very night, fast reads that they were. From Book 3 onwards, the movie veered off in a completely different direction, recreating only bits and pieces but in different contexts. A couple of things in the book did annoy me, as it felt like the authors did not think things through and just chucked in certain plot elements as required without really explaining them. For example, right at the start Jared put on his shirt inside out without any specific reason, apart from him looking at a page in the Guide on protective devices. Why did he test that one out? Was it something he thought would help him against Thimbletack's pranks? And lo and behold, as they go exploring and try to look for Arthur Spiderwick, Jared is the only one immune to the faerie trick because of the way he had put on his shirt. Just too convenient for my tastes, even for a children's book. Nevertheless, it was still an interesting read for me as it featured new characters such as the elves and the phooka, which didn't make their way into the movie.

Holly Black & Tony DiTerlizzi - The Seeing Stone (The Spiderwick Chronicles, Book 2)

The Seeing Stone is the second book in the Spiderwick Chronicles. Book 2 was slightly more interesting for me as it varied from the movie and the changes made it more entertaining for me as a reader. That said, I would have loved to see parts of this book in the film. For example, there was a troll scene here with the goblins that would have been quite visually exciting, although it may be a little too scary for the kiddies! This was yet another enjoyable read (albeit a little short for my liking), and I look forward to the rest of the books to see how differently the story progresses from its movie version. Till Book 3!

Holly Black & Tony DiTerlizzi - The Field Guide (The Spiderwick Chronicles, Book 1)

I hadn't heard about these books until I watched The Spiderwick Chronicles recently. I really enjoyed the movie and thought it would be a great idea to seek out the books that the movie was based on. The Field Guide is the first book in a series of five making up the Spiderwick Chronicles. This was a very quick read and I think all five books could easily be published into a single volume. A single book on its own felt too short, although I supposed it is a children's book afer all. Based on what I've read so far, most of the elements from the books were kept in the movie without too many changes. Any adaptations for the movied worked really well and helped to enhance the story rather than taking away from it. It will be interesting to see how the story progresses as I get to the other books!