Sonderbooks Book Review of The Ironwood Tree

Reviewed July 7, 2004.
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, New York, 2004. 111 pages.
Available at Sembach Library (JF DIT).

The Spiderwick Chronicles continue in a book with even more excitement and suspense than the ones before. The creatures of faerie are still trying to get The Field Guide from Mallory, Simon, and Jared Grace. This time, dwarves kidnap Mallory to do it.

In the mean time, Jared is threatened with expulsion from school, a mysterious stranger has been kidnapped by an ogre, some creatures of faerie are murdered, and an evil plot is revealed to take over the world. Will the Grace kids have to convince their mother what is going on? Or will they be able to save the world on their own?

Again, these are a great set of books for kids who are ready for short chapter books. There are plenty of pictures and the story isn’t long, but what is there is exciting and action-packed. I find myself wondering if the authors can pull off a satisfying conclusion in only one more book. It’s going to be fun to find out.

Reviews of the other Spiderwick Chronicles:
The Field Guide
The Seeing Stone
Lucinda's Secret
The Wrath of Mulgarath

Reviews of other books by Tony DiTerlizzi:
The Search for WondLa
A Hero for WondLa

Reviews of books illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi:
The Spider and the Fly
The Story of Diva and Flea

Reviews of more books by Holly Black:
Doll Bones
White Cat
White Cat audiobook
Red Glove
Black Heart
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
Zombies vs. Unicorns
The Cruel Prince
The Wicked King
The Queen of Nothing
How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories
The Stolen Heir
The Prisoner's Throne

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Book Reviews by Sondra Eklund

****The Ironwood Tree*

The Spiderwick Chronicles, Book 4

by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black