The Spiderwick Chronicles
#5043.94 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 5 books Status Complete 2003–2004 Reading commitment Low Holly Black & Tony DiTerlizzi Last reviewed 2026-08-20
Overview
A middle-grade series about the Grace children's discovery of a hidden faerie world at their family's crumbling old estate, co-created and co-written by Holly Black and illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi. The original five books, The Field Guide, The Seeing Stone, and Lucinda's Secret (all 2003), and The Ironwood Tree and The Wrath of Mulgarath (2004), were followed by a three-book spinoff, Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles (2007-2009); the fifth and final original volume reached the top of the New York Times bestseller list on release. The series was adapted into a 2008 feature film, for which Black served as co-executive producer, and into a 2023 television series that earned her a Children's and Family Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Young Teen Series.
Mythic fantasy · For Middle grade
Core Canon: Reading Order (5 works) counts toward ranking
The Spiderwick Chronicles Holly Black, Tony DiTerlizzi
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Field Guide | 2003 | 1 | core | 3.93 (95,117 ratings) |
 | The Seeing Stone | 2003 | 2 | core | 3.93 (49,425 ratings) |
 | Lucinda's Secret | 2003 | 3 | core | 3.92 (41,885 ratings) |
 | The Ironwood Tree | 2004 | 4 | core | 3.96 (39,950 ratings) |
 | The Wrath of Mulgarath | 2004 | 5 | core | 3.98 (43,114 ratings) |
The original five-book middle-grade series, co-created and co-written with illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi, following the Grace children's discovery of a hidden world of faeries and other creatures at Spiderwick Estate.
Library / Expanded (3 works)
Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles Holly Black, Tony DiTerlizzi
| Work | Year | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Nixie's Song | 2007 | N/A | |
 | A Giant Problem | 2008 | N/A | |
 | The Wyrm King | 2009 | N/A |
A follow-up trilogy featuring a new set of child protagonists (the Grace children's cousins) in the same world; registered Expanded Canon as a secondary continuation rather than the flagship series.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Spiderwick Chronicles? The Spiderwick Chronicles's Core Canon is 5 books, plus 3 more in the wider Library/Expanded material.
- What is the reading order for The Spiderwick Chronicles? Publication order, starting with The Field Guide. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is The Spiderwick Chronicles finished? Complete (2003–2004).
- How much reading does The Spiderwick Chronicles take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 5 Core Canon books · ~602 pages).
- How is The Spiderwick Chronicles ranked? #504 in this site's official ranking, based on 269,491 reader ratings across 5 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #504?
Ranked #504 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.94 across 5 core books.
- Backed by 269k reader ratings.
- Remarkably consistent across the whole series: all 5 rated core books rate within 0.06 of each other.
- Less than 0.01 behind #503, Inkheart (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Well rated · 5 books · Complete · 269k ratings · Ranks #504 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment mythic fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (5 Core Canon books)
- Lucinda's Secret (2003)
- The Field Guide (2003)
- The Seeing Stone (2003)
- The Ironwood Tree (2004)
- The Wrath of Mulgarath (2004)
Documented internal/story order
- The Field Guide (2003)
- The Seeing Stone (2003)
- Lucinda's Secret (2003)
- The Ironwood Tree (2004)
- The Wrath of Mulgarath (2004)
Awards (verified)
- No independently-verified awards on file for this universe yet.
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Suggestions computed from what The Spiderwick Chronicles and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- The Hounds of the Morrigan Mythic fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 4.06
- The Dark Is Rising Mythic fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 4.02
- At the Back of the North Wind Fairy-tale retelling / Mythic fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 4.01
- Dragon Rider Mythic fantasy · Ongoing · Low commitment · 4.00
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.94 across 269,491 ratings on 5 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Admit The Spiderwick Chronicles (Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi) accepted 2026-08-20
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Last reviewed: 2026-08-20
Rule: Core Canon is the original five-book series (The Field Guide through The Wrath of Mulgarath, 2003-2004). The follow-up trilogy Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles (2007-2009), featuring a new set of child protagonists in the same world, is Expanded Canon.