Spiderwick Chronicles

If you have kids between 8 and 11 in your life, Spiderwick Chronicles is a great movie...with fairies and fantasy and monsters...but also the storyline of a family going through divorce and moving to another (haunted?) home.

The movie is now available on DVD...and it's a blockbuster in my opinion. Not for under 6...the monster (Mulgarath) battle is too frightening. But it is well-done, well-constructed and to me, one of the best movies I have seen in this genre. It did not get box office status for some reason...but you can rent it now at your local store.

The movie is based on a series of books...5 of them...The Spiderwick Chronicles. I read the whole series aloud to my grade 5/6 class two years ago and I don't think there was one child who did not love the story.

The writing style is phenomenal! If you want an example of good writing to use as a springboard for showing kids a goal in terms of technique and description etc., this book is priceless! The black ink illustrations are wonderful! To me, it is even better than the Chronicles of Narnia!

So look for the movie or the books this summer! Your kids/grandkids will love it! (By the way, a child I was tutoring who was a very hesitant reader got hooked on this series and read all of them! That too is a commendation for their interest level and entertainment value. They actually changed a life!)

My 9 year old grandson and I where talking about these books just Thursday night. He wants to read the books before he sees the movie. I told him that was probably the best way to do it as sometimes you really don't understand why something is happening in a movie but in a book its usually all layed out for you. He's reading the book that his teacher gave him (and all the class) for a end of the year present first, then plans on reading the set. The interesting part of this is I think he bought the books with his own Birthday money!

The movie is just a slick summary of the 5 books. They did a great job...but there is so much more in the books...and they are written so intelligently!

One more thing...the books are not for girls or for boys specifically. Since the theme is fantasy with all kinds of fantastic creatures, it appeals to both. And the fairies are not the Tinkerbell type.

As well, there are two brothers (one kind of a "bookish" kid and the other an adventurer type)...and a sister in the family...all with different personalities...and all arguing most of the time like kids do! So it has a really general appeal. I myself enjoyed these books immensely. A very good read!
This author is a real wordsmith!

We saw the movie last night. Make sure you see the movie before reading the books. We read the books first and the movie felt very shallow and cut up.

I think that movie was made for the big screen. It kind of "shrinks" in its impact when viewed at home on the TV...unless you have a larger screen.
Some of the effects are awesome when seen on a theatre screen.

I'm an avid movie buyer and after reading your post I bought this movie for my kids.. fantastic movie!! and they absolutely LOVED it!!

Thanks!