Rating: 
Summary: "The Stones Tell Me...The Stones Know All..."
Review: "The Ironwood Tree" is the fourth of the five books in the "Spiderwick Chronicles", concerning the Grace children (the eldest Mallory and the twins Simon and Jared) and their involvement in the faerie world. In previous books they have gained some general knowledge on how to deal with these faeries (which is based on real fairy folklore) thanks to the "Field Guide to Faeries", written by their great uncle Arthur.The "Ironwood Tree" delivers on the previous book's promise of dwarfs, with a journey underground and the first appearance of Mulgarath the ogre, mentioned in "Lucinda's Secret". When the twins accompany their mother to Mallory's fencing meet, Jared notices a young girl rummaging through his sister's bag. Going to investigate, Jared confronts a shape-shifting faerie that immediately turns into a terrified little boy when Jared threatens him with a knife - just in time for the principal to catch him. Despite being faced with suspension, the twins discover that Mallory has been kidnapped by the dwarfs, and must venture into the abandoned quarry in order to rescue her. From there comes encounters with the dwarf king, the hoardes of dwarfin treasure, an enchanted Mallory, a knocker, and finally the terrible Mulgarath, leaving this particular reader longing for book five. After a brief lull in the action in "Lucinda's Secret" (which was still a good read) Holly Black picks up the action once more, with more faery encounters, captures and escapes, and a rather bloody final chapter. The detail of the dwarf kingdom is wonderful, with a myraid of mechanics and treasures that the dwarfs have created (including the famed Ironwood Tree), and Black effortlessly sprinkles in touches of fascinating faery lore. Some things I didn't quite agree with: the dwarfs prove themselves to be quite stupid, considering - 1. They didn't check to see if they had the real Field Guide, 2. They let the twins escape so easily from their cage, and 3. they actually gave weapons to Mulgarath (and their reasons for allying themselves with him are never explained). I've always quite liked dwarfs in the fantasy genre, but these ones are just too idiotic to be likeable. Also, I was a little disappointed in the children's mother: I would like to think that if my child was accused of threatening a younger child and he pleaded innocent, I would give him the benefit of the doubt and stick up for him. Mrs Grace however is all to ready to believe that her son would do such a thing - shame on her! However, Tony DiTerlizzi's illustrations just keep getting better and better. The shapeshifter in particular is downright creepy - and Mulgarath is just fantastic. He is obviously evil, but the skill of DiTerlizzi's pen makes you appreciate the work that went into creating him: he is huge, magnificent and regal - and therefore looks quite appealing. The dwarfs are fairly unoriginal in their appearence (short, squat, long beards, etc), but their treasure trove and the frog/bug-like knocker is wonderful. Even though there sadly are some characters missing (Thimbletack, Hogsqueal, Byron the griffin), there is a hint as to a mystery character that the goblins have captive, and what the children will have to do in order to win the day. I can't wait for book five: "The Wrath of Mulgarath."
Rating: 
Summary: Great Adventure--- Review by Ramsie
Review: 'The Ironwood Tree,' is the fourth book in the Spiderwick Chronicles - continuing from where Book 3 -' Lucinda's Secret' left off - and is another fabulous little 7 chaptered book brimful of sumptuous illustrations.
The Grace children face their greatest challenge yet. During a fencing match, while their 13 year-old sister is fighting a duel, 9 year-old twins, Jared and Simon spot someone rummaging through her sports bag. Jared goes to investigate - but finds something he never expected - a shape-shifter impersonating him, turning the Grace twins into triplets! As a result, he is expelled from school - but that's the least of his worries - while he and Simon are distracted, Mallory is kidnapped. A trail of mysterious clues lead them to an old Quarry inhabited by dwarves. Here they find the incredible Ironwood Tree - and to their horror discover their sister asleep, locked inside a glass coffin. Somehow they have to rescue her, escape the dwarves, their mechanical dogs and a giant ogre.
This book is the fourth in a series of five. Although the stories revolve around the magical inhabitants of the faerie world - don't assume that these books are just for girls. Jared, the main character, is very much a boy - into fighting, getting expelled from school and generally being difficult! Even the faeries are not the twee Enid Blyton variety - neither are they the like the feisty gun-toting elves of the Artemis Fowl books. No, they seem much more realistic: Strange, magical, dangerous and willing to do anything to get Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide. What is it about this innocuous looking old book that drives the inhabitants of the faerie world to such great lengths. Book five - 'The Wrath of Mulgarath' has the amazing answer ...
I have always awarded 5 stars to the previous Spiderwick books. However, a slightly disappointing ending meant that this one got 4 stars. I felt the denouement was below par - and rather rushed, as if the author felt obliged to conclude the book within the customary 7 chapters, when it might have worked better with an extra chapter or two. The conclusion seemed overly convenient, especially the unconvincing way the robotic dogs were dealt with and the Grace kids escaped the quarry. That being said - it's still a most enjoyable book. If you've read the others - then this cannot be missed.
Rating: 
Summary: The one where Mallory does her Sleeping Beauty thing
Review: During a break in faerie activity, the children try to get on with their lives. Mallory throws herself into her fencing, Simon looks after his animals and Jared continues to get into trouble.
But this peace and relative quiet doesn't last long when a shape changer appears at a fencing match, and contrives to get Jared into even more serious trouble than normal.
The plot thickens when Mallory disappears, and they have to pursue her into the depths of dwarf territory, solving a tricky riddle as they go along. The dwarves want the Field Guide really badly, and as the twins don't have it anymore, they have to ad-lib to the best of their ability.
After a tour of the dwarf realm of undying beauty, they meet with the dwarf Lord Korting, and see their sister under glass doing a Sleeping Beauty imitation. By keeping their wits about them they escape captivity and tough puppies, and witness a brutal betrayal by their enemy Mulgarath.
This is the darkest of the series so far, but one of the most detailed. Enjoy, you've only one more to go.
Amanda Richards, November 1, 2004
Rating:
Summary: Not perfect, but still a great read
Review: First of all, this is not a bad book. Not at all. It's good, but it has a few *noticeable* problems. It is, as you can tell from the spine, a very short book. In fact, I am reading the fifth book right now and I just started the series yesterday. This book can be read in just a little over 30 minutes.
But don't get the wrong idea. I'm not saying it's bad. The plot seems rushed (as it does in the other books). It seems a little too easy for the characters to succeed. At one point, Simon decodes a message (it's never explained how he does it), and the message ends up as "Knock Three Times To Enter". And the fact that the rock quarry is a bit close to the school makes it seem all too simple.
Everything else in the book is top-notch. Great characters, good plot. But as soon as you start, it's over.
Rating:
Summary: A great book
Review: I have read the 1st three books and I didn't expect what happened in book four. I think that this book was awesome because it was more exiting and had more faeries than the others. I can not wait for the fifth book to come out.
Rating:
Summary: Better then the others
Review: I liked The Ironwood Tree better then the others because it had more surprises, dwarfs, goblins. It was very exciting. I am telling all my friends in my class to get the book.
Rating:
Summary: It's my favorite
Review: I love the Spiderwick books and I like this one the best. It has more fairies and creatures. I like all the drawings too. My brother and I try to draw the pictures. I can't wait for more Spiderwick stories.
Rating: 
Summary: Loved the others but...
Review: I noticed that all the kids below gave this book rave reviews, but as an adult who loved the first three, this one really dissapointed me. It was kind of a bad spinoff of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. And was it just me, or was it even shorter than the others? The storyline was much less involved as the first ones. I hope the last book turns out much better and wraps things up with the story. For those of you new to Spiderwick, the books are really cute, but super short (takes less than an hour to read) and by the time you buy all 5 books (which is the equivalent to one book of reasonable length) you spent over $50. My advice... check it out from the library. :)
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and charming
Review: I picked up this book at Target because it was on sale and I was drawn in by the charming format. I thoroughly enjoyed it, being a fan of childrens' literature. The plot moved along at a good clip and the descriptions of the "otherworld" were very interesting and held my attention. There could have been a bit more depth to the characters, but hey..it's a kids' book. I found this to be much more enjoyable than the one Lemony Snicket book I picked up, which I frankly found to be really boring and a bad Edward Gorey ripoff. I look forward to reading the other three books in the Spiderwick series.
Rating:
Summary: If only....
Review: I'm 14 years old, and I'm addicted to the Spiderwick Chronicles. We bought the first two for my little cousins, and I paged through them while wrapping them. I had to go out and buy my copy! Although they say these books are for the younger ages, I still think that older audiences would enjoy reading this series. They're filled with adventure, wonderful descriptions, and original characters. I highly recommend them for anyone who likes a good light fantasy read.
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