My sister read and loved this series a few years back, and we recently rented the movie. Haven't seen it yet, but I wanted to read the books before the movie, so I set to work. I finished the entire series in under 24 hours. Each book is short, so that the whole thing reads like one story.
I've tried to read the series before and never got past the first book. I'm not sure why that is. Maybe because I haven't had time to read it -- but on the other hand, these are very short books. Halfway through the fourth book, the reason why became shockingly clear: these books -- while somewhat original, and certainly fun with all their illustrations -- are devastatingly boring. I did a lot of skimming on my read of them. Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black (the authors) fill the story with meaningless description. Maybe you need to be a kid to like it, but I'm surprised any kid could get through the slog presented to them. I'm sure one reason they could was because of the fantastical illustrations that pepper nearly every page. It's a really interesting idea to have faeries in your own backyard, as part of the wildlife; and while I'm sure it's been done before, this seems to be a really appealing way to present it to kids.
Let's talk about the story itself. The main character is Jared, twin to Simon, sibling of older sister Mallory. The three Grace children supposedly contact the authors and ask them to publish a book they've found (Arthur Spiderwick's Guide to the Fantastical World Around You), and subsequently tell them their tale, found within these five volumes. Along their journey, they meet everything from a troll under a bridge to an ogre in a palace of trash to a dragon doing battle with a griffin. Since the story is split into five parts, the authors have to create a new situation with each book. The first is undoubtedly the most fun, in which they encounter a brownie (or boggart) in their house. Actually, though, most of the rest are repetitive hostage situations with goblins, ogres, dwarves, or elves. Scattered within are some information sessions with members of the Spiderwick family, since the famed Guide is often not with them for some reason.
For a kid's story, too, this series is very centered around despair. Jared (whose point of view we see most often) is often angry, as if an "animal" is eating him from inside. He has an uncontrollable temper, and in the final two books realizes that he is against unwinnable odds. Needless to say, it takes some supreme luck to get him and his family out of tricky situations, which just goes to show you that those with good intentions will be protected by an omnipresent deity. Gee, that's a helpful message. For a theme this big (and with other heavy storylines such as a well-written, nasty divorce), the authors needed a hugely satisfying ending, which they completely failed to deliver. The end is abrupt and lucky, and they then spend too much time on epilogue. An epilogue which, by the way, is also unrealistic. Spoilers: the Guide, promised to the elves for their help, is returned to the Grace children because they'd "proved their worth" by destroying the antagonist. I don't see how they did that; they were lucky. I also don't see how publishing the Guide is "protecting" it.
They never explained why the kids could waltz right into the trash palace at the end, either. (Well, I guess that can be explained by the troll's need to brag. Still, it's a bit weak.)
All in all, this series made me thirst for the Lord of the Rings again. The whole thing had a feel of great mythology behind it, but unless I know that mythology, that's not going to help the massive heaps of description that fluff up a largely insubstantial series. I admire the authors for doing something different, but it's actually not that different. There are lots of stories about fantastical worlds in kids' backyards out there. Far better ones, too.
I'm just looking forward to the Guide. (My sister has that too, luckily, so I don't have to go looking for it.) This is obviously the centerpiece of the whole series. At the beginning of each book is a letter from the Grace children asking the authors to publish the Guide. I understand there was a long delay between the publication of the final book and the publication of the Guide. The delay had better be worth it, because I'm aching for mythology, and DeTerlizzi and Black have so far not met my expectations. Certainly not enough to warrant my going to look for the sequel series.
EDIT: I've actually just thought of a more interesting version of the first book in the series. The Boggart, by Susan Cooper, is a highly entertaining read about a boggart inhabiting an old mansion, clashing with the family that comes to live there (including a computer genius, who proves himself as more than a match for the boggart). Susan Cooper is also the author of the lackluster Dark is Rising series and the excellent Shakespeare time-travel story King of Shadows.
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