Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the Spiderwick series. I've
placed the comments below. Most felt that they were fine in the
elementary library. My aide decided that it needed to be my decision,
of which, I quickly replied that yes it was already my decision and they
needed to be placed back on the shelf. Thanks again for all your help.
Theresa Bonk - Media Specialist
Grant Elementary - Grant, MI
tbonk@grantps.net
I read Books One and Two, and was totally unimpressed. It wasn't the
violence (I don't remember much of that!) but the poor quality of the
writing. My thoughts were that the series is trying to tie in a fairy
genre with the Lemony Snickett-style of writing and wasn't doing a good
job
with either. Much better to stick with E. Nesbit and Edward Eager!
Our South Dakota Reads instructor read one with her 3rd grader, and
loved
it. My kids love them. They can't be much worse than Star Wars, can
they?
I haven't read them yet.
I have at least 2 copies of each book in the series and the kids love
them. I have read all of them and found them to be a great source of
fun fantasy for those who can't or won't tackle Harry Potter or
others. They are filling a real niche in our library.
I have the first two here, and frankly they haven't
been that popular. I read the first three, and
there's definitely violence, but nothing I thought
would be objectionable - it's more cartoon-y, with
characters being kidnapped by goblins and so on. I
can sort of see where the aide is coming from, but
they'd see more violence in a half-hour of Power
Rangers, Pokemon, etc. etc. - I can never keep up with
the cartoon of the month!
I wouldn't have a problem with giving them to most
2-4s, though I don't think they're particularly good
literature.
I have read the first two...have quite a few students who have read them
and can't wait for the next one. I did not find anything to make them
inappropriate to the intended audience. I believe they are written at a
5th grade level.
Spiderwick - pretty harmless books, especially compared to a book like
those in A Series of Unfortunate Events. My aide and I thought 2nd
grade might be a little too young for Spiderwick, but third on up should
be fine. Neat books.
I've read all three of the Spiderwick Chronicle books that I
have in my library and I love them! But I'm a fantasy fan from way way
back. There is violence, as in almost all fantasy, but it isn't too
graphic in my opinion. Also the children in the stories make mistakes,
but work to make better choices. I have all three in my K-3 library.
Just my 2-3 check out from the Fiction section and I haven't had any
complaints to this point.
I like them; they are a much more accessible read for my
students who want Harry Potter, but aren't able to handle that on their
own because of reading level.
I have only read the first of the series and aside from some nasty
pranks, for which Jared (or was it Simon?) got blamed, I was not struck
by anything overly violent. The books have a waiting list and are
enormously popular with my fourth and fifth graders. (Which is why I
haven't read the second two) Third graders would probably enjoy it but
second graders might not get it. Book four is soon-to-be-released!
Two of my second grade teachers have used the first in the series as a
read aloud. One teacher had a student get very frightened. The teacher
and I talked about its appropriateness after that. I was reminded that
when something is read aloud you cannot just skip the scary parts. When
all was said and done her class voted that the other class should have
it as a read aloud. Sorry that is all I have to offer.
I have read book 1 and did not see any problem. I have #2 at home to
read now.
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