The Spiderwick of the chronicles is Arthur, a metaphysical explorer who, 80 years ago, discovered how to see into the supernatural world. He wrote down and illustrated his findings in a leather-bound tome. But in making such secrets known, he crossed paths with an evil ogre named Mulgarath.

Cue time shift to the present day, when Arthur's great-niece Helen Grace (Mary-Louise Parker) moves into the Spiderwick estate with twin sons Simon and Jared (Freddie Highmore) and daughter Mallory (Sarah Bolger). Eventually, the three Graces meet up with Mulgarath, who takes human form in the person of Nick Nolte.

"The Spiderwick Chronicles" takes place in the course of one day, after Jared discovers Arthur's book, meets a brownie named Thimbletack, witnesses Simon being kidnapped by the ogre's toad-like henchmen, and flies with his siblings on the back of a huge griffin to visit Arthur, among other wondrous events.

"The Spiderwick Chronicles" has been executed with competence and good taste by director Mark Waters, who has enlisted a commendably classy cast in the effort.