Set in the Spiderwick Estate in New England, it follows the adventures of Simon, Mallory, and Jared Grace as they discover a field guide to faeries and battle goblins and other magical creatures. It was directed by Mark Waters and stars Freddie Highmore, Sarah Bolger, Martin Short, Nick Nolte, and Seth Rogen.

The Spiderwick Chronicles takes place in New England, United States, where the nine-year old (at least according to the books; in the film the children's ages are unspecified) twins Simon and Jared and their older sister Mallory move into the decrepit Spiderwick Estate. They discover a field guide to faeries written by the house's previous owner, Arthur Spiderwick and soon begin to notice faeries throughout the estate. Mulgarath, a shape-shifting ogre, wants the field guide for himself and attacks the children in an attempt to obtain it.

The movie opens with Jared, Simon and Mallory Grace moving into the Spiderwick Estate with their mother after it is supposedly given to them by their elderly great-aunt Lucinda, Arthur Spiderwick's daughter. Mrs. Grace is recently divorced and wants a new start for her family. Jared is very upset at the move and frequently fights with the rest of his family.

On their first morning in the house, Mrs. Grace lost her car keys while Mallory lost one of her medals; both are thinking Jared is the culprit. Jared, on the other hand, hears something behind the wall and inadvertently pokes holes into the plaster. Later, Mallory does the same and uncovers a dumbwaiter system which contains various items, including the missing keys and medal. While cleaning out the dumbwaiter, Jared finds a monogrammed key. He discovers Arthur Spiderwick's study, which contains a chest. Jared opens the chest with the key and finds Spiderwick's Field Guide; an attached note warns him not to read it. After something invisible tries to steal the book, Jared hides himself in a foot locker and unseals the book, mysteriously causing a shock wave to emanate from the house. He reads the book into the night and awakens to Mallory's screaming. Someone has tied her hair to her headboard; she and their mother blames Jared, despite his protests of innocence.

Jared meets a brownie named Thimbletack who explains that magical creatures are normally invisible but can reveal themselves at will. He tells Jared about a protective circle that Arthur Spiderwick placed around the house and gives him a stone with a hole. By peering through the hole, one can actually see faeries. Simon, mistaken for Jared, is kidnapped by Mulgarath's goblins. Jared meets Hogsqueal, a hobgoblin with an unusual appetite for birds, who, by spitting in his eye, gives him the ability to see all faeries without the aid of the stone. The twins escape to the house with Mallory's help.

In the house, Simon provides a brief diversion for the goblins while Jared and Mallory steal away. Barely escaping a troll set upon them by the goblins, they visit their great-aunt Lucinda for advice. Lucinda relates to them that only one person can help them: Arthur Spiderwick. She relates that when the goblins attacked, he was "rescued" by the Sylphs, however, they are not allowing his return for the knowledge he possesses. Lucinda tells them that they must find her father and have him destroy the book. However, Mulgarath's goblins attack them and manage to steal several pages from the book. As the goblins were routed, their mother arrives and take the children home. On the way home, Mrs. Grace doesn't believe Jared or Mallory, and believes this is because Jared wants to move back to New York. Jared loses his temper, says he hates his mother, and doesn't want to live with her.

Meanwhile, Simon, aided by Thimbletack, has employed his time to fill plastic bags with tomato sauce, known to burn goblins like acid. On Jared and Mallory's return, Jared learns that their father has fallen in love with another woman and is not coming back. Then the kids used the book to summon Arthur Spiderwick's pet, a Griffin, which takes them to the realms of the Sylphs. They meet Arthur Spiderwick, who has not aged a day but also unaware of the time he had spent there. Spiderwick initially scoffs at the notion of destroying the book but came round when Jared related how Arthur and Lucinda had lost each other. Unfortunately, Thimbletack had swapped the book; while its cover was the same, the pages within were those of a recipe book. Arthur tells them that the Sylphs will not let them return for the same reason they kept him but distracts the Sylphs with the fake book long enough for the three to escape on the Griffin.

On their return, Hogsqueal warns them that one of the stolen pages will allow him to destroy the protective circle when the moon waxes full. Barely managing to rescue their mother from the goblins, they armed themselves with steel knives and Simon's tomato sauce balloons. They are soon forced into the kitchen, however, whereupon they placed all of their tomato sauce and salt into the oven and hide before detonating it, killing all of the goblins.

Mr. Grace, their father, was seen forcing his way into the house and tells Jared that he came to apologize. Jared, however, stabs him in the stomach, revealed him to be Mulgarath. Jared escapes with the book through the dumb waiter while Mulgarath transforms into a snake and gives pursuit. He chases Jared onto the roof but Jared threw the book onto the lawn. As Mulgarath transforms into a raven, he is caught and eaten by Hogsqueal.

In the end, the Graces brought Lucinda back to the house. The Sylphs appear and bring her Arthur, her father. However, he cannot remain for the years he lost would return to him all at once and he would turn to dust. Lucinda asked him to, at least, take her with him so the Sylphs transform her back into her six year old self, before spiriting the two away.

Event Information The Spiderwick Chronicles When: March n/a , 2008 Where: N/A County: None Region: New Jersey Email:  Contact Organizer Phone: N/A The Spiderwick Chronicles is a 2008 fantasy film adaptation of Holly Black and Tony Diterlizzi's bestselling series of the same name

The Spiderwick Chronicles is an event taking place on  March n/a , 2008 at N/A, located in None County, New Jersey in the New Jersey region.  If you have questions about this event, please email Contact Person or call them at N/A.  If the contact phone number and email address have not been provided, you can search the internet for more information about this event.  This event listing was posted by a contributor to GoKidsNJ or a person associated with the event.    As with any event be sure to call ahead to verify the accuracy of this posting.   GoKidsNJ makes no warranties or claims that the information listed is true or accurate.

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