Summer is here, and one of my favorite hot weather pastimes is to relax in the hammock with a cold drink and a knitting project, or some easy fantasy fiction. A book that is particularly suiting these beginning hot days of the season is a lovely coffee table book, Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide.
The pen & ink and watercolor images are beautiful works of art. Viewing the delightful creatures is like taking my imagination to a carnival, with each new visual ride topping the next. I tip my hat to the vivid imagination of Holly Black and illustrative talents of Tony DeTerlizzi. I haven't read the Spiderwick Chronicles, but the series is certainly on my list to learn what these amazing critters might do beyond my imagination!
This visual delight is arranged scrapbook style with handwritten annotations from Arthur Spiderwick around the sketches. It's great fun to find that some of those illustrations fold out from top or side. Courtesy of barnesandnoble.com, here are two samples to tempt you.
Description of the book:
It all began with a strange,
mysterious correspondence left for authors Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly
Black at a small New England bookstore. Written by three siblings, the
letter told of their great-great-uncle Arthur Spiderwick and an
unfinished tome filled with eyewitness accounts of creatures otherwise
thought to be the stuff of legend. In the #1 New York Times
bestselling serial the Spiderwick Chronicles, readers were enthralled by
the account of the those siblings, Jared, Simon, and Mallory Grace, as
they battled dwarves, goblins, elves, and a diabolical ogre in their
efforts to hold on to their uncle Spiderwick,s life work. Now, through
the combined efforts of the Grace children and authors Tony DiTerlizzi
and Holly Black, Simon & Schuster is thrilled to present that work
to you!
Beginning with a thoughtful and
informative introduction, progressing through six exhaustive sections
featuring thirty-one faerie species, and culminating with an addendum
that includes observations supplied by Jared Grace, this long-awaited
compendium to the worldwide Spiderwick phenomenon delivers enough
information to satisfy even the most demanding faerie enthusiast. Not
only will readers learn the habits and habitats of the fourteen
fantastical creatures featured in the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly
bestselling chapter books, but they will be delighted and astonished by
an additional seventeen creatures. Also included are dozens of snippets
from Arthur Spiderwick,s personal journal as well as cameos from a few
series favorites.
2 comments:
This book looks positively delicious. Thanks for the review.
You're very welcome, Rosi! It is truly delicious.
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