Holly and I will be doing a special event on September 16th, for the release of the next Beyond the Spiderwick book, A Giant Problem. Below are the details, I hope we see you there!

Special SPIDERWICK EVENT with Holly Black!
Tuesday, September 16th
6:00 PM
BOOK WORLD
Essex Mall
895 Bloomfield Avenue
West Caldwell, NJ 07006

I hope everyone here in the states had a great Fourth of July yesterday. I was so busy eating hot dogs and playing with sparklers, that I forgot about posting our runner ups for the DVD Drawin’ Contest, so here they are!

As with our winners, the judges (myself, Ang and my assistant Will) looked for creativity and technical skill. Some of these pieces came close to placing, but we tried to keep the ages varied for our final winners. Below, we picked some of our favorites that I just wanted to share with you all:

Thomas’ piece would have likely placed, but we received it after submissions were closed. At only thirteen(!) years old, this fella shows A LOT of promise.

Five year-old Lily, sent us several pieces, but this simple, yet iconic, drawing of a unicorn melted our hearts.

Sandrine, an illustrator from France, rendered this variation of Allister the leprechaun from Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide.

Speaking of France, Stéphane sent us this awesome sketch of Mulgarath sitting on his tower steps from book 5.

Eleven year-old Gabe sent us this funny sketch of Hogsqueal and Byron (also from book 5). The look on Hoggy’s face is almost as funny as Jared (or is it Simon?) watching from the window.

Exploring the digital medium, Ellie sent us this cool colored version of Byron the griffin.

Summoning the spirit of Arthur Rackham, Aaron sent us a couple great images, but we loved this one of Thimbletack best.

In fact, the little brownie was quite a popular model for many. Check out Andrew’s interpretation.

Studying at the Accademia di Belle Arti of Venice, Leonardo found the time to do a couple of lavish renditions of his favorite creatures. Because the phooka is one of my favorite critters, I chose this one personally.

Last, but certainly not least, is nine year-old Allie’s colored drawing of Mal fighting off a goblin. Of course, she gets extra points for hand-lettering it.

Thank you all again for participating! I will be sending you all a signed postcard as well as a set of my custom “DiTerlizzi Studio” stickers…so make sure Angela has your mailing address.

And to those who did not place, please don’t fret: I will post the details of the “Design a Dragon” contest next week!

Once again THANK YOU all for entering on such a short notice. The competition was stiff with over 70 entries from all over the world! Angela and I judged on what wowed us through creativity, originality and technical skill. We had entries from all age ranges – from pre-schoolers to professional artists – and we were both truly touched by the time spent by all of you on participating.

But enough yammering, onto the winners!

Six-year old Ivy sent us several entries of her interpretations of some of the fantastic creatures in Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide. We couldn’t figure out if we liked her posing with the will-o-wisp drawing, or her manticore more, so here are both of these great renderings from a young promising talent.

Nine-year old Isaac also sent us his renditions of the fantastic creatures, but explored them stylistically by rendering them in different mediums(!) We liked his collage phoenix and pastel wood elf the best.

Annie, from nearby Northampton Mass., sent us this killer rendition of all her favorite characters and scenes. We really liked the anime influence on the kids.

Twelve-year old Margaret love, love, LOVES Hogsqueal! She sent us several scenes of her own invention involving my favorite hobgoblin, but it was this one from one of the General Mills “Lost Chapter” books that wowed us.

We received a number of wonderful pieces from young, up-and-coming professional artists. But Monika’s moody rendition of Mallory really captured the complexities of the heroine. Ang and I really felt her attachment to the character.

Our grand prize winner understood the spirit of Spiderwick and what my goal was with these books. Wen, from Costa Rica, sent in this luscious image of a tropical pixie that he recorded along with some great notations: “I present to you one of our endemic pixies, Aerisemen Spp….as you probably know, Costa Rica is part of the tropics, hence full of luscious rain forests that possess a wondrous biodiversity of flora, fauna and faery folk. Just like other pixies, ours mimic flowers and plants in their environment(s), but are characterized by a strong preference for exuberant adornment and most are much more ceremonial than their continental counterparts. Concerned with the cycle of life, a South American pixie will carry symbols of fertility, adopt forms from the reproductive parts of plants and seem to be most active during the transition period from the dry season to the rainy season. “

Seriously, how cool is that?

Congratulations to all of our Spiderwick DVD winners! Please confirm your mailing address by dropping a line to Angela at: angela@diterlizzi.com

Next Friday we will post some of the runner’s up and personal favs, which I will send some goodies too as well…stay tuned, and thanks again for all of your support!

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Get your pencils, paints, markers and paper! I have (in hand) six copies of The Spiderwick Chronicles 2-disc special edition DVD ready to give to you, dear fans!

All you have to do is send me a drawing of your favorite character, creature, scene, (or illustrator) from any of the Spiderwick books for an upcoming special edition of “Friday Fan Art” right here on this blog.

Send your entries to:

Tony DiTerlizzi
Spiderwick DVD Drawin’ Contest
P.O. Box 442
Amherst, MA 01004

I need your entries by JUNE 27th, 2008.

You may also scan and email your image as well. Please title your subject heading as “Spiderwick DVD Drawin’ Contest” and send it to Ang at: angela@diterlizzi.com

You can enter as many times as you’d like. I will judge your entries based on originality, creativity, and technical skill.

Winners will be announced and posted in the “Friday Fan Art” section of my blog on June 27th. I will award 5 prizes of the DVD, and a grand prize of the DVD and Spiderwick trunk boxed set. All items have been signed by Holly and I.

Good Luck!

A couple of years ago, I was down in South Florida showing Holly Black some of the natural areas that I knew very well as a kid growing up. I took her to the rocky shore of Blowing Rocks Preserve and the scrubby palmetto woods of Jonathon Dickinson State Park. Our purpose was to find inspirational locales for the Spiderwick sequel, Beyond The Spiderwick Chronicles (BtSC).

BtSC takes place in fictitious Mangrove Hollow, one of the numerous housing developments that have blanketed the coast of Florida (as I am sure has happened in many places nationwide). There is a proximity to a preserved natural wetland, but also there are man-made (or “man-enhanced”) natural features like the excavated pond that Taloa the nixie lives in.

Angela and I showed Holly a housing development in my old hometown of Jupiter that was exactly how I envisioned Mangrove Hollow. We walked around the development, schemed and plotted a bit, and took photos for visual reference. Ang’s mom was a realtor for the development and, before we knew it, we found ourselves inside one of the models.

Ang and I both loved it.

So here I am again, a couple of years later, back in Florida - we purchased a little winter home right here in Mangrove Hollow. I walk Sophia by Taloa’s pond every day, but we still have yet to see her…or any giants (thank goodness!)

I see McDonald’s has The Spiderwick Chronicles Happy-Meals now available. If I didn’t think the film, toys, cereal, and video game were surreal enough, this definitely sent me to dreamland.

My parents took us kids to get fast food every once and awhile. I grew up on Burger Chef and their equivalent to a Happy Meal, called the Fun Meal - which I loved. So I know the kid-version of me would so be into getting a “Common Ground Goblin” with my cheeseburger…or feeding Hogsqueal some fries.

I see that Ty’s Toy Box now has the Spiderwick Action figures available. Choose from Jared, Hogsqueal, Redcap or Mulgarath. Here’s hoping we get a Mallory, Simon and Thimbletack as well.

I am not sure if these are final toys pictured here or early prototypes. If anyone finds them, please drop a comment as to where so others can hunt them down:)

Angela and I just returned from the Los Angeles and New York premieres of The Spiderwick Chronicles movie. We watched the film in both venues (this makes it my 6th time seeing it) and celebrated its completion with Holly and the cast and crew. It was a whirlwind of interviews, photographs and fancy clothes…and in the blink of an eye it was over (that is, until we head out to promote it in the United Kingdom next month).

So, as many have asked, what has this been like? How does it feel to have a film adapted from your books, stories, characters and art? Many words come to mind:

Surreal
Mind-blowing
Incredible
Fantastic
Awe-inspiring

..but I don’t think they quite convey the mixture of emotions that myself, Angela (and Holly) have gone through. So I’ll tell this little tidbit of a tale in hopes that it illustrates how I truly feel about all of this.

Back in the summer of 1982, I made a little book called Gondwanaland. In it, a group of scientists discover an island full of fantasy creatures and record their habits, habitats and images. It was written and illustrated by a 12 year-old incarnation of me, and it came from a naturalist’s perspective. I was greatly inspired from the game Dungeons & Dragons, books like Brian Froud & Alan Lee’s Faeries, and films like Star Wars and The Dark Crystal - all things I’ve rambled on about in this blog before.

I forgot about the book for some time, but returned to it in the 90’s while I was contributing regularly as an artist for D&D and the Planescape role-playing game. I began redoing some of the illustrations and approached TSR about publishing a field guide to faeries, trolls and goblins. They declined, and I moved on to achieving my dream of creating books for children.

I did some picture books, won a couple of awards, and (at last) had the opportunity to create my field guide with the help of my good friend, Holly. On top of the Arthur Spiderwick myth, we told the story of Jared, Simon and Mallory Grace - and how dangerous the real world of faeries can be. We had no idea if children would like it, but we sure enjoyed crafting the tales.

To our delight, the books were well received: teachers, librarians and critics loved them, kids and parents loved them, and Nickelodeon & Paramount Pictures loved them - I figured I was dreaming: I was still 12 years-old, and my mom would wake me up for school any minute.

Mark Waters signed on as a director (fresh off of his hit Mean Girls). John Sayles wrote a draft of the script. Phil Tippett and Industrial Light & Magic came on to create the special effects for the film. Celebrated actors like Nick Nolte, Martin Short, David Strathairn, Mary Louise-Parker, Sarah Bolger and Freddie Highmore signed on to play the roles of characters Hol and I created - and all the while, all I could think was “My mom is going to wake me up any minute now.”

In short, the final film is fantastic. It breathes the same air the books do. It’s dirty, organic, richly visualized, and fast paced. There are no glittery tinkly faeries here, just celluloid spirits re-forged from the old folklore that had inspired me all these years. It’s a thrilling, raucous ride with a little heart and soul, and I feel like…like…a 12 year-old when I watch it.

Maybe I am dreaming - or simply, this is what it feels like when a boyhood dream comes true.

I hope you enjoy the faeries (and the film).

This ran in today’s Publisher’s Weekly:

A Tasty Promotion for Spiderwick
By Karen Raugust — Publishers Weekly, 1/17/2008

Simon and Schuster has partnered with General Mills for a 10 million-box, five-brand cereal promotion tied to the Spiderwick Chronicles. Running from January 1 to March 1, the promotion’s timing is tied to the Spiderwick film being released in February. But its focus is entirely on the books. In fact, when the two companies started talking about the partnership, the film was optioned but didn’t have a green light, so it wasn’t a factor in the deal, according to Laura Ferguson, S&S director of premiums, CDP and corporate sales.

Specially marked boxes of Lucky Charms, Cocoa Puffs, Reese’s Puffs, Cookie Crisps and Honey Nut Cheerios will include one of three collectible books based on the second title in the Spiderwick series, The Seeing Stone. The three will be evenly distributed among the 10 million boxes, with each store receiving some of each title. The cover is visible through a clear window in each box.

Each book features a third of the original story with a special introduction and conclusion, followed by a brand-new prequel story and illustrations created by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black in conjunction with GM and S&S. The new material, which comprises about 10 to 15 of the 64 pages in each book, is available only through the GM promotion.

This project has taken almost 2 years to complete. But, having VERY fond memories of getting a cool prize in a cereal box as a kid, I do think it was worth it. Holly and I created “Lost Chapters” (with new art) for the Spiderwick universe.

One lost chapter is about Thimbletack becoming a boggart, another is how the troll’s bridge was destroyed, and the last one was how Hogsqueal (or Hoggy, as I call him) was captured by the goblins.

Hopefully, if you are already a fan of the books, you’ll enjoy these little sidetracks. The cool thing is that the boxes have a window showing you what book is inside, so you won’t have to eat your weight in Lucky Charms only to find a duplicate prize…man, I hated when that happened as a kid.

Angela came across a writing contest, “The Ultimate Fantasy Fan”, that was being run by Spiderwick studio Paramount Pictures and Harry Potter fan club, Mugglenet. The winner of which will be able to interview folks attending the Los Angeles premiere! A 13-year old gal, Amanda, won and here is her killer essay.

I can’t begin to describe what it feels like to have created a world which has inspired so many young (and old) imaginations. I feel so honored to be part of this fantastic culture; yet, I usually work at home with only my public events (like book-signings) to receive the praise from fans. So seeing others exhibit their creativity, like in this clever essay, truly touches me and, in turn, inspires me to create more.

Rock on Amanda! I’ll be looking for you on the red carpet and in bookstores in the future.