“The pale light of the newly risen sun made the dew shimmer on the nearby grass as Jared, Mallory, and Simon trudged along the early morning roads.”

From Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black’s The Spiderwick Chronicles: The Wrath of Mulgarath.

After Mallory, Jared, and Simon Grace barely escaped with their lives from the dwarf mines, they return home to find that the evil Mulgarath destroyed their house in search of their great uncle magical field guide book.  The Grace siblings look to their magical creature allies like Thimbletack, Hoqsqueal (who was forced to join Mulgarath’s army), and the phoenix, Byron, for help in getting the field guide back before Mulgarath uses it to control the magical world.  As they look for a way to defeat Mulgarath, the children discover not only where he has set up his base of operations and where he’s keeping their kidnapped parents, but also parts of his plan for magical domination.  Seeking help from anyone who will give it, the children reach out to the local elves and even the imprisoned Arthur Spiderwick, but all of the world-saving danger is placed on their shoulders alone… as normal.  Mallory, Jared, and Simon launch a dangerous plan to infiltrate Mulgarath’s lair, save their parents, and capture the field guide, but when they face off against Mulgarath, it becomes very evident that he is, without a doubt, more evil than anything they’ve ever faced before.  In order to survive, each Grace sibling will have to push themselves farther than they ever have before.

DiTerlizzi and Black again create a captivating story through both words and pictures; the characters are unique and readers are easily able to connect more with the characters.  The illustrations are beautiful and help to aid in the development of the story, while the book’s short length makes reading it a breeze.  As the final book in the series, The Wrath of Mulgarath brings the fun and magical adventure to a thrillingly satisfying conclusion.