The Ironwood Tree - Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi - Spiderwick Chronicles Book 4

The Ironwood Tree
The Spiderwick Chronicles Book 4
Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi
Simon and Schuster
ISBN 9780689859397

The further I get into this series, the more I like it. These are great books, wonderfully written and illustrated. Black and DiTerlizzi have done an amazing job. These books in some ways are like C.S. Lewis's Narnia books, and in other ways like J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, but they are not overtly religious the way Lewis's are and they are not as dark as Tolkien's. They will introduce children to the concept of wonder, and believing in things unseen, or at least unseen by most. As the series progresses, the relationship between the three Grace children solidifies. They grow closer together as they struggle against those forces that wish to take Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide, and they grow in character through the trials they encounter.
What is great is that as each book progresses, the story moves faster and faster. In this book they encounter goblins again, and dwarves and an ogre. They soon realize that the world of fairy is far more dangerous than they had experienced so far. In this book we have riddles, a kidnapping, capture and an escape. We encounter mechanical animals and a few hidden surprises even the children could not expect. It is a great novel and leaves you wanting the 5th and final book of the first series.

Books by Black and DiTerlizzi: The Spiderwick Chronicles
The Field Guide
The Seeing Stone
Lucinda's Secret
The Ironwood Tree
The Wrath of Mulgarath

Arthur Spiderwick's Notebook of Fantastical ObservationsArthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You
Care and Feeding of Sprites
Beyond Spiderwick
The Nixie's Song
A Giant Problem
The Wyrm King

Other Books by Holly Black:
The Poison Eaters and Other Stories

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
Doll Bones

The Modern Faerie Tales
Tithe
Valiant
Ironside

The Good Neighbors
Kin
Kith
Kind

The Curse Workers
White Cat
Red Glove
Black Heart

Anthologies
Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd
Zombies vs. Unicorns
Welcome to Bordertown

Other Books by Tony Diterlizzi:

Jimmy Zangwow's Out-of-This-World Moon-Pie Adventure
Ted
G is for One Gzonk
Kenny & the Dragon
The Search for WondLa

Books Illustrated by Tony Diterlizzi:
Dinosaur Summer
Ribbiting Tales
Alien & Possum: Friends No Matter What
Alien & Possum: Hanging Around
The Spider & The Fly
Dragonflight
Peter Pan in Scarlet

Books by Tony & Angela DiTerlizzi:
Adventures of Meno:
Wet Fun!
Big Friend!
Yummy Trip!
Uh-Oh Sick!