The Field Guide (2003)

Check out my review at: http://www.shannonsbookbag.blogspot.com/2012/06/various-childrens-books-various-... ( )

A bite-sized visit to a fairy-inhabited mansion with a secret room, this book feels less like the first installment in a series than like the first quarter of a book. I suppose the idea is to be unintimidating so that children who are on that cusp between reading being tough work and being a delight will not shy back from a hefty tome. Or the idea is to sell more books.
From a plot perspective, the creatures share names but not characteristics with some of the magical beings in Harry Potter (who of course are derived from various folklores). The main characters are somewhat uninspiring: wealthy children who fence and reside in a mansion, two-thirds of whom (including the main character) are male.
For well-off children, only half of whom are male, having magical adventures, I much prefer Half Magic and the other Edward Eager books, but they would tax the reading ability of this book's intended audience. ( )

So much family fun with this series.
We own:
- the 5 original books
- the three bonus books that are part of book 2. we hunted for them in cereal boxes back in the day
- Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You

We enjoyed the movie and the computer game from back when we needed CDs to play them iirc. ( )

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I couldn't resist picking this up from the library last night after looking inside and seeing just how nicely presented it is. It definitely feels like the first book in a series, simply because the story is fairly quick to introduce and resolve, but it's a pleasant read with likeable characters.