Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
The Spiderwick Chronicles: Book Three - Lucinda's Secret
Illustrator: Tony DiTerlizzi
Fiction Series
For ages 7 to 10
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2003 ISBN: 0689859384
One would have thought that having the Field Guide to the world of Faerie would mean that one would have the advantage over that world, the answers to its puzzles and mysteries. Unfortunately for Simon, Jared, and Mallory this is not the case. So far they have tangled with a truly pestiferous house boggart, have barely escaped from an encounter with a troll and some extremely nasty goblins, and have a very large and hungry griffin in their carriage house. Not only do they not have any answers, but they don't know what to do with the guide now that they have it. Thimbletack the boggart seems to think that it should be destroyed. Mallory agrees with him on this particular point. Jared, the self appointed keeper of the Guide, cannot bear to think of destroying the book. The children finally decide that their only recourse is to ask the advice of someone who might know something about the Guide and its writer their great uncle Arthur Spiderwick.
The only person who might know anything is Arthur?s daughter, their Aunt Lucinda. The visit to Aunt Lucinda reveals that the old lady knows all about the Faerie world, indeed she has been touched by it in a terrible way. Jared also discovers that the Guide, which he thought was safe in his backpack, is no longer there. What are the children to do now? They have lost the Guide and have learned that their great uncle Arthur was also lost; the man disappeared seventy years previously.
What follows is a bizarre journey and encounters with creatures unlike any that the children have met so far. Once again Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black have created a book that perplexes and carries one into a world where anything can happen. It is also a world where dark and evil creatures live and where children should be careful where they go if they want to survive. Irresistible and enthralling, this is a book that is truly hard to put down. Filled with black ink line drawings and several beautiful full color illustrations, and presented in a journal format, "The Spiderwick Chronicles" will be treasured for years to come.
