The Field Guide

The Spiderwick Chronicles (2003-2004) by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black

The complete series of bestselling novels contains The Field Guide, The Seeing Stone, Lucinda’s Secret, The Ironwood Tree, and The Wrath of Mulgarath. The Grace children confront an evil goblin conspiracy, defend the guidebook and each other from capture, protect their parents, and save the world. In the process, they also solve the mystery of what happened to Arthur Spiderwick.

Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles (2009) by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black

This second series includes The Nixie’s Song, A Giant Problem, and The Wyrm King. It traces the adventures of a different trio of kids who read the first series and discover faeries living near their own home.

Spiderwick Companion Books by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black

Four supplemental books accompany the Spiderwick series. Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You (2005) is the guide that Jared supposedly finds, and is another example of verisimilitude, where something fictional is claimed to be real. The other books are Notebook for Fantastical Observations (2005), Care and Feeding of Sprites (2006), and The Chronicles of Spiderwick: A Grand Tour of the Enchanted World, Navigated by Thimbletack (2005).

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2001) by J.K. Rowling

Like Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide, this book describes magical beings. The creatures in Rowling’s book are part of the Harry Potter universe. This is another example of verisimilitude: The textbook is required reading at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, from magical zoologist Newt Scamander, and describes several dozen creatures not regularly found in the normal muggle world. A 2017 edition “for Wizards” adds several creatures. As of 2022, three Fantastic Beasts motion pictures have been released.