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Reader Reviews | |
Review by Molly Martin (280213) Rating (8/10) Review
by Molly Martin Section two begins with a two page spread, on the left is a detailed listing of the Anatomy of a Sprite while on the right is a line drawing of the Basic Sprite Body carefully annotated a la a scientific drawing. And, the work continues, tongue firmly in cheek, packed with lovely, full color, graphics of various sprites and a page of notes regarding how to select the sprite, obtaining the sprite, and even beings often mistaken for sprites, but that are not sprites and how to tell them apart, how to discover whether your sprite is a girl or a boy, housing the sprite, proper nutrition for the growing sprite, accessories to get for your sprite, grooming your sprite, how to maintain well being of sprites and how to understand the moods of sprites. Sprites detailed in the book include; Common Orchid Sprite, Flower Head, Agile Hopper, the beautiful moth winged Orchid Sprite, Dancing Pondneedle, Little Blueberry Sprite, cherubic Rackhams Sprite, Graceful Thicket Sprite, Royal Orchid Sprite, Sprout Sprite, Devil’s Spur and the Glowing Toadfly closing out the work are the Flower Winged and Beetle Winged Sprites. What a fun book for middle grade readers who are often a tricky tribe to persuade into reading anything. The books in this series are so beautifully wrought, filled with whimsical notes and graphics to tickle the imagination. I like the notion of through the looking glass type fantasy and these charming sprites fit that idea nicely. I found when teaching 4th grade for two years that the girls in particular were fascinated with this particular book and the possibilities sprites offer as motivation for writing. I did find the boys too enjoyed thumbing the books for ideas for their own drawings and even pseudo scientific notations.
Happy to recommend Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black’s beautifully
illustrated and detailed The Spiderwick Chronicles: Care and
Feeding of Sprites especially for middle grade readers, including
classroom usage, but also for anyone with a sense of whimsy and
whimsy in their soul. |
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