The Ironwood Tree
written by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi
part of The Spiderwick Chronicles

The first book in the series opens in New England, United States, where nine-year-old twins Jared and Simon and their thirteen-year-old sister Mallory move to the decrepit Spiderwick Estate with their mother, Helen. They discover a secret library hidden in the house, and in the library they find Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You, a book full of information on faeries. Several days later, while Jared, Simon and Mallory are in Uncle Arthur's study, a small man with a hat appears. The little man, named Thimbletack, is in fact a brownie that has transformed into a boggart when neglected. When a boggart, Thimbletack caused them all much trouble. He commands them to not open and read the Field Guide and leave it alone or suffer a terrible fate.

After ignoring Thimbletack's warning, Simon is abducted by a group of invisible goblins. Thimbletack guides Jared to a seeing stone device created by his great-uncle which gives the ability to see faeries, called the Sight. Mallory and Jared go searching for him, narrowly escaping capture, and find the goblin camp. While rescuing Simon, the hobgoblin Hogsqueal convinces them to help him escape in exchange for his help in retrieving Simon. Hogsqueal spits in their eyes, giving them the Sight permanently. After rescuing Simon, they flee and lead the goblins to the troll where they meet their end. They rescue the rest of the goblin's victims and take an injured griffin back to their house

The Grace children visit their Great-Aunt Lucinda, who is now in a psychiatric hospital. When they speak to her, they learn more about the world of faerie creatures, the Field Guide, and its author, Arthur Spiderwick, who was Aunt Lucinda's father. Arthur had disappeared when Lucinda was still a little girl and the Grace children later find out where he disappeared to when they stumble upon a forest of elves. On their journey they meet Stray-Sods, grass that can move, and a Phooka, a strange creature that talks only in riddles. Jared is captured by the elves, but tricks them into making a pact so that Simon will be trapped instead of him. They all manage to escape, but only by promising them that they will bring the field guide to them when it is found.

The Spiderwick Chronicles leave the old-fashioned charm of New England far behind and head south for some fiendish faerie fun in the hot Florida sun. Eleven-year-old Nicholas Vargas only thinks his life has been turned upside down after his developer father remarries and moves his new wife and daughter into the soon-to-be completed Mangrove Hollow. But an "expedition" to a nearby lake turns up a little nixie with a giant problem - the huge, lumbering, fire-breathing variety - and it's up to Nick; his stepsister, Laurie; and his big brother, Julian (plus a familiar face from the original Spiderwick Chronicles, Jared) to figure out the best way to stop a host of rampaging giants before all of Florida goes up in smoke.

The first book in the series opens in New England, United States, where nine-year-old twins Jared and Simon and their thirteen-year-old sister Mallory move to the decrepit Spiderwick Estate with their mother, Helen. They discover a secret library hidden in the house, and in the library they find Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You, a book full of information on faeries. Several days later, while Jared, Simon and Mallory are in Uncle Arthur's study, a small man with a hat appears. The little man, named Thimbletack, is in fact a brownie that has transformed into a boggart when neglected. When a boggart, Thimbletack caused them all much trouble. He commands them to not open and read the Field Guide and leave it alone or suffer a terrible fate.

After ignoring Thimbletack's warning, Simon is abducted by a group of invisible goblins. Thimbletack guides Jared to a seeing stone device created by his great-uncle which gives the ability to see faeries, called the Sight. Mallory and Jared go searching for him, narrowly escaping capture, and find the goblin camp. While rescuing Simon, the hobgoblin Hogsqueal convinces them to help him escape in exchange for his help in retrieving Simon. Hogsqueal spits in their eyes, giving them the Sight permanently. After rescuing Simon, they flee and lead the goblins to the troll where they meet their end. They rescue the rest of the goblin's victims and take an injured griffin back to their house

The Grace children visit their Great-Aunt Lucinda, who is now in a psychiatric hospital. When they speak to her, they learn more about the world of faerie creatures, the Field Guide, and its author, Arthur Spiderwick, who was Aunt Lucinda's father. Arthur had disappeared when Lucinda was still a little girl and the Grace children later find out where he disappeared to when they stumble upon a forest of elves. On their journey they meet Stray-Sods, grass that can move, and a Phooka, a strange creature that talks only in riddles. Jared is captured by the elves, but tricks them into making a pact so that Simon will be trapped instead of him. They all manage to escape, but only by promising them that they will bring the field guide to them when it is found.

The Spiderwick Chronicles leave the old-fashioned charm of New England far behind and head south for some fiendish faerie fun in the hot Florida sun. Eleven-year-old Nicholas Vargas only thinks his life has been turned upside down after his developer father remarries and moves his new wife and daughter into the soon-to-be completed Mangrove Hollow. But an "expedition" to a nearby lake turns up a little nixie with a giant problem - the huge, lumbering, fire-breathing variety - and it's up to Nick; his stepsister, Laurie; and his big brother, Julian (plus a familiar face from the original Spiderwick Chronicles, Jared) to figure out the best way to stop a host of rampaging giants before all of Florida goes up in smoke.