Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You | |||||||
Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black | |||||||
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 124 pages | |||||||
|
A review by Charlene Brusso
The opening chapters contain all manner of helpful information for those seeking to explore the world of fantastical
creatures. For example, fairies like milk and are drawn to it; they like lukewarm the best. And for getting rid of them, a
bag of salt is likewise handy. Also, make sure your backpack has iron or steel clasps, to keep fairies from stealing your things!
The bestiary itself is divided into chapters based on the various locations where one may encounter faire folk: "Around the
House and Yard," "In Fields and Forests," "In Lakes, Streams, and the Sea," etc. Each entry includes color plates of the
creature in question, along with reproductions of Arthur Spiderwick's handwritten notes and observations. A good thing to note
is that even the most helpful faire folk can be somewhat... eccentric in their work. Some Brownies, for example, usually
regarded as good household helpers and protectors, insist on alphabetizing books by the author's middle initial.
Less beneficent creatures like the Cockatrice (resembling a marvelous combination of grouse and frilled lizard) and the North
Atlantic Sea Serpent are shown on double-sized fold-out pages. The Sea Serpent fills four pages, and through the translucent
skin of its underside you can see a deep sea diver in full rig waiting to be digested. Reading the Hill Giant entry, we
learn these enormous beings spend most of their adult life hibernating, which allows their backs to become densely forested
habitats in their own right. And where else could you learn that Gargoyles may be a species of pygmy-domesticated Dragon?
For the scholarly reader, Black and Diterlizzi have included an impressive bibliography of (real) books on folklore, fairy
and fantastical creatures for further research. Whether you've read The Spiderwick Chronicles or not,
this Field Guide is an impressive and entertaining package for all ages -- I know that because I've had to go and
reclaim the book from my four year old son at least five times so I could actually read it for the review!
Charlene's sixth grade teacher told her she would burn her eyes out before she was 30 if she kept reading and writing so much. Fortunately he was wrong. Her work has also appeared in Aboriginal SF, Amazing Stories, Dark Regions, MZB's Fantasy Magazine, and other genre magazines. |
If you find any errors, typos or anything else worth mentioning,
please send it to editor@sfsite.com.
Copyright © 1996-2014 SF Site All Rights Reserved Worldwide