Periodic gusts of wicked humor from narrator Snicket, allow readers to start breathing again. There's more menace than violence, but there are scenes where a baby is threatened with being dropped from a tower and a boy is struck across the face. Kids will learn lots of new vocabulary words, which Snicket cleverly explains in context, and be exposed to many literary references that may sail over their heads but are a big part of the fun especially for older readers.
Add your rating See all 15 parent reviews. Add your rating See all 80 kid reviews. A cliff-hanging adventure wrapped in black -- very black -- humor marks "The Bad Beginning," by Lemony Snicket the pen name of author Daniel Handler and his equally fiendish illustrator, Brett Helquist.
The story follows the grim-fated progress of the recently orphaned Baudelaire children, and their mistreatment at the hands of their abominable distant cousin, Count Olaf, right to the bittersweet, to-be-continued ending. Snicket successfully negotiates the treacherous waters of gallows humor in this first volume of his Series of Unfortunate Events. Like Edward Gorey, his success is due to the formal, deadpan quality of his fine writing and his understated way with catastrophe.
The result is at once grim, sinister, and terrifically entertaining. The book doesn't get by on ghoulishness alone; it needs a story, and it has a good one. Snicket keeps readers off balance: He states flatly that things won't turn out right for the Baudelaires, then holds out some promise, only to snatch it back.
The story is enlivened by Helquist's occasional artwork. Families can talk about the black humor in this book. Do you enjoy this kind of humor? Does it mix well with the sinister aspect of the story? How do you like the formal language of the narrator? Do you like learning the many unusual words he includes and explains? Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate. Common Sense Media, a nonprofit organization, earns a small affiliate fee from Amazon or iTunes when you use our links to make a purchase. Thank you for your support. Our ratings are based on child development best practices. We display the minimum age for which content is developmentally appropriate. The star rating reflects overall quality.
Learn how we rate. Parents' Ultimate Guide to Support our work! Corona Column 3 Use these free activities to help kids explore our planet, learn about global challenges, think of solutions, and take action. Parents recommend Popular with kids. A cliff-hanging orphan adventure wrapped in black humor.
Lemony Snicket Adventure Rate book. Read or buy. Based on 15 reviews. Based on 80 reviews. The Times Online refer to the books as "a literary phenomenon", and discuss how the plight of the Baudelaire orphans helps children cope with loss—citing the rise in sales post September 11, as evidence. A fan article compares the series to being a "guide for grief. The series can help teach children critical thinking skills, such as skepticism, as well as a wide variety of vocabulary.
Others noted that it can help children to become more independent and learn how to not only voice their own values, but also act on them, due to the themes about the consequences of inaction and complacency, even when it seems the whole world is against them. In addition, the books may help to generate sympathy and understanding towards those who are unfortunate in life. The reader is forced to experience the constant tragedy of the Baudelaire orphans.
For example, in The Austere Academy , the Baudelaires are forced to deal with bullying. The series has been criticized for formulaic and repetitive storytelling.
Similar events occur repeatedly. In Books , the Baudelaires appear with a new guardian, Count Olaf appears in a disguise, no one believes the Baudelaires, someone is killed or almost killed, and Olaf escapes.
In defense, the formula being recycled makes The Vile Village and the latter books more dramatic. Another example of repetitiveness is that when someone says something, "cried" is often used as a descriptor, such as "Violet cried, 'It wasn't us! Lemony Snicket constantly defines words, even ones such as "rickety", "blanched" and "simmered". In defense, this is meant for the younger readers who probably do not have a large vocabulary. Handler appears to have taken this criticism seriously during development, in order to balance the story so younger readers know what is occurring, while at the same time, trying not to come off as too patronizing and condescending to older readers.
In later books, definitions are moreso used in a fashion to describe the events that are unfolding, rather than the specific definition itself. Some claim and criticize that the books teach children to not trust adults and that it's useless to come to them for help. The series portrays young people the Baudelaires, the Quagmires, Fiona as being more sensible and open-minded than the often irrational adults, even going so far to include a nightmarish village run by 25 nonsensical elderly people the Council of Elders , as well as Ishmael.
However, another interpretation is that it teaches children to be wary of certain adults instead of all adults, and the idea of why blindly respecting and trusting someone, simply because they are older than you, can be a bad idea. A woman also once approached Daniel Handler and said, "In one of your books, you teach that it is sometimes necessary to lie. The series contains elements of "moral ambivalence", often dismissing the idea of "right" and "wrong".
Poe in order to catch a ride to Lucky Smells Lumbermill was the "right" thing to do. Violet replies that it does not really matter, what matters is what will happen to them. While the series features some developed characters, it has also been criticized for keeping some characters rather one note. However, one-note characters can be a positive thing, in the sense that they portray the truth that some people will never change.
A Series of Unfortunate Events has come under criticism from both parents and some school districts for its dark themes. Upon its release, many were quick to deem the series as "sick" and "demented", due to the often overwhelming feelings of despair, children under constant threats of death and violence, people dying in gruesome ways, etc.
This was especially true during the time when only books were released, in which someone explicitly dies. The finale of book 5 is perhaps the first turning point of the series; while Duncan is being kidnapped, he shouts "V. Although book 4 had commentary about corruption in the workforce, the latter books contain social commentary on corruption in aspects like education book 5 , fashion and wealth book 6 , herd mentality book 7 , healthcare book 8 and entertainment book 9.
Perhaps most controversial aspect was the suggested incest, referring to Olaf's attempt to marry his supposed distant cousin Violet in The Bad Beginning.
Although his main motive is to gain the Baudelaire fortune and not sexual in nature, readers note that are suggestive lines. There is some low-level profanity used in the series.
For example, "damn" and "hell" are said in The Reptile Room. Handler later commented that the word's use was "precipitated by a long discussion of how one should never say this word, since only a villain would do so vile a thing! This is exactly the lily-liveredness of children's books that I can't stand.
Since its release, access to the books have been banned and restricted in similar school districts; these include:. The books have drawn the ire and praise of fundamentalist Christians, some of whom believe the books to be Christian allegories and some of whom believe them to be long-winded insults against Christianity. Despite this, Handler, who is a secular humanist, and does not consider himself a religious person, claimed the books are not supposed to be Christian allegories or attacks on Christianity.
The Baudelaire family have been confirmed to be of Jewish descent, although Violet, Klaus and Sunny do not mention deities or "God", implying religious ambivalence. For example, when the Baudelaires encounter tough situations, they resort to brainstorming and using their wits, instead of prayer and begging a higher power for help. The End mentions the Baudelaires do not believe in magic:. The narrator mentions at one point that the characters often felt as if there was something powerful over them, which made no move to help them and was perhaps even laughing at their misfortune.
But whether that person was God or the author is up for grabs. A Series of Unfortunate Events consists of thirteen novels and and one epilogue chapter at the end of the series that is considered by Daniel Handler as a separate book. North American cover of The Bad Beginning. The original covers were made to look old fashioned, with Victorian designs throughout.
They were originally released in paperback, but those have now become harder to find, with hardcovers becoming the standard for the series. Several hardcover box sets were released in the US. The first four box sets came with three books each, and were each referred to as "A Box of Unfortunate Events. Shortly after publication of the last book, The End , the entire series was released in a box set called The Complete Wreck.
The series's illustrator Brett Helquist returned to illustrate another release of the series in paperback form, made to mimic the penny dreadful--a common nineteenth-century British publication that was usually released in parts, each of which cost a penny. Books one, two, and three saw releases in this form, as well as secondary names: The Bad Beginning or, Orphans! Penny Dreadful releases have been put on hold indefinitely for the remainder of the books.
Numerous promotional items and merchandise has been released including calendars, buttons, dust covers, postcards, puzzles, board games and many more. An unofficial website focused on merchandise is here.
There have been two major adaptations of A Series of Unfortunate Events : the Paramount film , and the Netflix series. While the film is not canon to the books, the TV series has debatable canonicity as Daniel Handler was involved with some of it, although he was taken off the development team, and many things in the TV series are different from the books.
The game is based primarily on the movie, which in turn is based on the plots of the first three books of the series: The Bad Beginning , The Reptile Room , and The Wide Window. Players take the roles of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire, solving puzzles, fighting villains and finding objects. Plenty of scary things happen in A Series of Unfortunate Events. But that conspiratorial bond and understanding is woven throughout the books, and is part of what makes them so compelling for young readers.
A Series of Unfortunate Events begins with the Baudelaire father and mother dying in a fire. Both parents dying is undeniably the scariest thing that can happen to children.
In one fell swoop they lose both the two most important people in their lives and the protection and safety that a parent is supposed to provide. When they call Mr.
Their new guardians range from warm and quirky to distant and severe, but they all have one thing in common: whether through indifference or incompetence, they ultimately fail to keep the orphans safe.
A Series of Unfortunate Events is often described as surreal and absurdist. I was fortunate to grow up in a comfortable, loving home, so those things were very low stakes, but they were very real — and frustrating and anxiety-inducing — in the moment.
A Series of Unfortunate Events reflects that dichotomy back to its young readers.
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