Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You
Illustrator: Tony DiTerlizzi
Series
For ages 10 to 13
Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 2005 ISBN: 978-0689859410
Do you hear something knocking on the walls of your house at night? Do you keep losing bobby pins, pencils, or spools of thread? Have you woken up to find that all the laces of your shoes are tied together and that your dog has a large bald spot on its head? If you have answered yes to any or all of these questions then there can be no doubt that you have a member of the faerie world living in your home. Is it a boggart, a brownie, or a knocker? What do these mysterious creatures look like?
Within the pages of this remarkable guide you will find these and many other questions answered. Without a doubt this is one of the most comprehensive and fascinating books of its kind, giving even the most famous of bestiaries serious competition. The creators have taken pages from Arthur Spiderwick's famous Guide and have used them to create a book which is beautiful to look at and full of valuable and useful information. Where else will you find out how to stay on the right side of a brownie and how else will you know that the gargoyles that you see on buildings may, in fact, be alive.
Packed with luscious color illustrations and numerous pencil sketches this book is a must for fans of the Spiderwick Chronicles. Anyone with an interest in the faerie will find the book hard to put down. Readers will find that it is not hard to get lost in the pages (some of which fold out to reveal beautiful illustrations) and in no time readers of all ages will be convinced that they are indeed looking at the life's work of Arthur Spiderwick, which thankfully has been reproduced here by the talented duo, Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black.
