2008-07-07 Wonderful illustrations and descriptions

This field guide to accompany the Spiderwick stories is an amazingly beautifully written and illustrated guide to invisible magical creatures like Brownies, Boggarts, Piskies, Gargoyles, Banshees, Changelings, Pixies, Salamanders, Phookas, Dragons, Giants, Goblins, Merfolk, Sea Serpents etc and some wonderful rare creatures like the 'Stray Sod' who will make you chuckle.

It's an A4 sized book in the style of a really old journal with browned pages and picture plates. Some of the inner pages open upwards and some double fold outwards. The content can't be faulted, really it is truly magical. Letters and old newspaper stories interweave the descriptions giving it a real journal feel.

The only slight gripe I have is is the modern presentation. The dust jacket is thin paper and easily damaged. It is also really flat apart from a slightly raised round part of the seal which may disappoint a child who has seen the book in the film version. The cover is different underneath and in the same style as another Spiderwick book the 'Notebook of Fantastical Observations'cover. It is a shame when a book looks better without it's dustjacket. An older style cover with a removable warning card and some ribbon would have done wonders to the outer presentation. The inner pages which open out are also slightly badly designed. I found it impossible to open the 'old wyrm dragon' page upwards without sligthly ripping it as it was such a close fit to the spine. I think younger children might have a problem opening and folding the pages without leaving them crumpled and ripped.

100/100 for content but it is let down slightly by the presentation. It could have been even more wonderful.