Craig Daily Press

Goblins and griffins and teenagers, oh my.

All of these unusual creatures can be seen in “The Spiderwick Chronicles.”

The Grace family is adjusting to the separation of parents Helen and Richard (Mary-Louise Parker, Andrew McCarthy) as she moves their children from New York to an inherited house in New England.

Jared (Freddie Highmore) is particularly sullen about their situation and refuses to try to get along with Helen, despite prodding from his twin brother, Simon, and their older sister, Mallory (Sarah Bolger).

Jared’s mood does not improve with his surroundings, because the new house is decaying and possibly infested. When he tries to find out what is scurrying around behind the walls, he comes across a secret library which holds a tome penned by a distant relative (David Strathairn); “Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You” is a book which discusses the magical beings that are unseen by the human eye.

Once Jared begins reading it, strange things begin happening around the house. He learns that the ogre Mulgarath (Nick Nolte), the most evil of these creatures, is after the book’s secrets in order to take over the magical world.

Highmore thrives portraying twins who are polar opposites: Stubborn but brave Jared and kindly pacifist Simon. Bolger also is good as their no-nonsense sister. Parker plays a maternal role, which is quite a bit different from her starring part on the Showtime series “Weeds.” Strathairn is enjoyable as the author of the book in question, and Joan Plowright is supreme as his now elderly daughter, Lucinda, who has been committed to an institution after her father’s mysterious disappearance.

The voice casting works well with Martin Short a perfect fit as Thimbletack, a tiny, helpful creature called a brownie, which becomes a ferocious, pontificating boggart when angry.

Seth Rogen makes the first of numerous voice appearances this year as Hogsqueal, a friendly, easily distracted hobgoblin with porcine features who lives on a steady diet of birds.

Nolte gives Mulgarath a good, gravelly intonation as well as briefly portraying him in human form.

Although hindered by the fact that viewers have seen these kinds of fictional beings in the myriad of recent fantasy films, “Spiderwick” offers another level.

Just as Jared and his siblings learn how to view the new world they have discovered through a tool called a Seeing Stone (a handsome option compared to the alternative of getting a faceful of Hogsqueal’s vision-inducing snot), they also realize that there is another way to look at their family’s circumstances.

This moral is very well crafted and is not preachy in the slightest, giving its younger audience the credit they deserve. It is worth mentioning that the movie is considerably more violent than one might expect a family feature to be.

Although far too many children’s books are being converted into celluloid lately, “The Spiderwick Chronicles” manages to retain the same kind of mood as its paper stimulus.

Now playing at the West Theater.