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May 31, 2014
Well, you can’t say he didn’t warn you. Mr. Lemony Snicket comes right out at the very beginning of this book and writes it in plain black and white. To paraphrase - “in this story awful things happen to some perfectly good kids over and over again and there is definitely no happy ending.” He could not be more correct. Thankfully, Snicket’s characters - the Baudelaire children - are so wonderfully likable that they carry the reader above and beyond all the badness.
In the beginning of the story, the children’s parents tragically die in a house fire. So Violet, Klaus and Sunny have to live with their only nearby family member - the famously terrible Uncle Olaf. This menacing miser puts a gross and disturbing plan into motion which will allow him to gain control of the sizeable Baudelaire fortune that was left to the children. And, as the writer warns us, horrible things happen throughout the story to the three kids and in the end....well...there are no cupcakes and smiles.
Violet and Klaus Baudelaire completely remind me of Claudia and Jamie Kincaid from “The Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.” And I love that! Both pairs of kids must absolutely be included amongst the most delightful characters in all of children’s literature. Like Claudia and Jamie, Violet and Klaus are so interesting, so well-developed and so masterfully written that they carry their story despite all the unhappy things that happen.
Lemony Snicket is a fabulous writer. Witty dialogue; twists, turns and tension in the story; lovable good guys and detestable bad guys; he has all the wonderful tools needed to create a classic book. But for me, and I can’t overstate this, Violet and Klaus are the whole enchilada. They keep positive in the face of extreme adversity, they protect their little sister Sunny at all costs, they love each other unconditionally and they cleverly use their brains and wits to get themselves out of some pretty nasty situations.
Now, I can’t do a review without mentioning Count Olaf. What a fabulous bad guy he is! Nasty, cruel, ugly, mysterious, selfish, greedy, what more would you want?! Even though he’s evil, he’s still a pretty fun character to read and you’ll have no problems rooting against him. Just keep in my mind that his dastardly plan for stealing the Baudelaire fortune is, as I mentioned earlier, pretty creepy and entirely inappropriate so keep an eye out for that.
I recommend this one for some fairly dark and dreary, but still highly entertaining read aloud time with older kids, probably age 8 or higher.
There are many books in the “Unfortunate Events” series and to be honest, after finishing this first one, I was not in a hurry to rush out and read the others with my 7.5 yr old daughter. However, I’ve found that I can’t get those brilliant Baudelaire kids out of my head! They are such magnificent characters and I definitely want to find out what other hijinks they get into. And Mr. Snicket’s outstanding writing has me believing that the series will certainly be intriguing and very enjoyable. So watch out for more UNFORTUNATE reviews in the future!
In the beginning of the story, the children’s parents tragically die in a house fire. So Violet, Klaus and Sunny have to live with their only nearby family member - the famously terrible Uncle Olaf. This menacing miser puts a gross and disturbing plan into motion which will allow him to gain control of the sizeable Baudelaire fortune that was left to the children. And, as the writer warns us, horrible things happen throughout the story to the three kids and in the end....well...there are no cupcakes and smiles.
Violet and Klaus Baudelaire completely remind me of Claudia and Jamie Kincaid from “The Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.” And I love that! Both pairs of kids must absolutely be included amongst the most delightful characters in all of children’s literature. Like Claudia and Jamie, Violet and Klaus are so interesting, so well-developed and so masterfully written that they carry their story despite all the unhappy things that happen.
Lemony Snicket is a fabulous writer. Witty dialogue; twists, turns and tension in the story; lovable good guys and detestable bad guys; he has all the wonderful tools needed to create a classic book. But for me, and I can’t overstate this, Violet and Klaus are the whole enchilada. They keep positive in the face of extreme adversity, they protect their little sister Sunny at all costs, they love each other unconditionally and they cleverly use their brains and wits to get themselves out of some pretty nasty situations.
Now, I can’t do a review without mentioning Count Olaf. What a fabulous bad guy he is! Nasty, cruel, ugly, mysterious, selfish, greedy, what more would you want?! Even though he’s evil, he’s still a pretty fun character to read and you’ll have no problems rooting against him. Just keep in my mind that his dastardly plan for stealing the Baudelaire fortune is, as I mentioned earlier, pretty creepy and entirely inappropriate so keep an eye out for that.
I recommend this one for some fairly dark and dreary, but still highly entertaining read aloud time with older kids, probably age 8 or higher.
There are many books in the “Unfortunate Events” series and to be honest, after finishing this first one, I was not in a hurry to rush out and read the others with my 7.5 yr old daughter. However, I’ve found that I can’t get those brilliant Baudelaire kids out of my head! They are such magnificent characters and I definitely want to find out what other hijinks they get into. And Mr. Snicket’s outstanding writing has me believing that the series will certainly be intriguing and very enjoyable. So watch out for more UNFORTUNATE reviews in the future!