The Spiderwick Chronicles : The Seeing Stone - Tony DiTerlizzi & Holly Black

Summary:  Jared, Simon, and Mallory Grace are drawn into a dangerous adventure when invisible creatures drag Simon into the forest surround the Spiderwick mansion.  Jared and Mallory are determined to rescue him, but how can they fight an invisible enemy?  (Summary from me - Image from openlibrary.org )

My Review:  The Spiderwick Chronicles: The Seeing Stone is the second of five books in the Spiderwick Chronicles series.  You can read our review of the first book here.  In the last book, Jared discovered a mysterious field guide written by his late ancestor, Arthur Spiderwick, that detailed the fantastical creatures that lived unseen in the world.  Now, something is after the book and Simon is kidnapped.  Determined to find their brother, Mallory and Jared enter the forest armed only with a magical seeing stone and a rapier.  Along the way, they make a new friend (sort-of) and encounter creatures beyond their wildest imaginings.

My kids really enjoyed this book, but I can see how it could be a little scary for more sensitive readers.  As a bit of a spoiler, the invisible creatures are some ugly, violent little goblins that like to roast and eat cats.  At one point Simon is locked in a cage and in danger of being their next meal.  My little ones handled this just fine, but others might not.  The illustrations in this book are black and white, but fairly detailed -- which is fabulous and fascinating unless your kid has a hard time sleeping at night, and then it's likely to lead to disaster. 

Overall, I thought this was a great continuation of the series and I plan to keep reading the rest of the series to my six and eight-year-old.

Post-edit:  I have finished this reading this series to my kids (we've had a bit of a backlog in our line-up), and while they enjoyed them immensely, I really don't have much to say about the rest of the series beyond what I have already said -- except that I feel the series should have been (and could have been) released all in one book.  Regardless, the series, in its entirety, is sure to please courageous young adventurers who don't mind a little scary faery action.

My Rating: 4 Stars.

For the sensitive reader:  Some images might be considered frightening for younger children.  I seem to recall a little bit of name calling and use of the "S" word (stupid ;) as well. (Post-edit: Later books use the word "crap," as well)

Sum it up:  A great continuation to an imaginative series.  Parents with sensitive-to-scary children might want to proceed with caution.