The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket (1999, Hardcover)

Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com

After already having seen the movie, I decided to invest in reading the books. Bk #1, THE BAD BEGINNING, only took me an hour to finish, and it was an enjoyable--if dark--read.

The Baudelaire children--Violet, Klaus, and Sunny--are left orphaned after a mysterious fire destroys their home and kills their parents. Taken into custody by Mr. Poe, the executor of their parent's estate, they learn that their parent's will states that they must be cared for by a relative. The closest relative, unbeknownest to the children, is Count Olaf, an actor and leader of a theatre troupe who lives in a dilapitated house on the other side of town.

Things, of course, only go from bad to worse after the children move into Count Olaf's home, which is strangely covered inside and out with drawings and representations of a strange-looking eye. Count Olaf even has a tattoo of the same image on his ankle. As the Count hatches a scheme to gain control of the Baudelaire fortune, which the children are not privy to until Violet comes of age, the children are alternately scared of their new "parent" and determined to find a way out of their dreadful situation.

I enjoyed this walk on the dark side, and plan on reading Book #2 in the series later today. That said, however, I think it depends on your child and his or her maturity as to whether this would be a good read for them or not. Although the reading material is suitable for around 8 years old and up, the book IS dark-natured, and might scare some children. If they've already seen the movie, they might be prepared for its darkness--if the movie depiction scared them, then hold off on the book for awhile.

I have never read this series before, so, logically, I began with the first book, "The Bad Beginning." What a great book! It is a quick, easy read, and is seasoned with miserable circumstance that helps you to fall in love with the characters even more.

The author also incorporates a very important tool: when he uses a word that a young reader might not understand, he explains it for the reader. For example, on page 68, one such passage reads: It is very useful when one is young to learn the difference between "literally" and "figuratively." If something happens literally, it actually happens; if something happens figuratively, it feels like it's happening. If you are literally jumping for joy, for instance, it means you are leaping in the air because you are very happy. If you are figuratively jumping for joy, it means you are so happy that you could jump for joy, but you are saving your energy for other matters.

These occasional explanations are easily understood and do not detract from the flow of the story as one might think. Just based on this book, I highly recommend this series to all families. If children are not ready to handle Harry Potter on their own, then "A Series of Unfortunate Events" will likely be their stepping stone into more complex novels. Enjoy!

After seeing the film based on the first 3 of the Series of Unfortunate Events, i thought it might be interesting to compare the movie and the books. Personally, i love children's books, and the Series, from what i can tell from the first 2, is definitely worthwhile reading.

I bought this book, simply because I was given book 10 as a gift. I am one of those people, I cannot start a series somewhere in the middle. I thoroughly enjoyed the Movie, with Jim Carrey, and thought it would be a great series to read to my kids at night, who also enjoyed the movie. I read the entire cover to cover in a matter of 4 hours!! I just couldn't put it down. Once I am able to acquire all the books I plan to give them to my daughter. All of lemony Snicket's books are dedicated to Beatrice. and My daughter is Beatrice. It was a great book, I just couldn't put it down!

The Bad Beginning contains the first references to Beatrice and to the V.F.D. eye insignia, which later become major plot devices. The book also contains the first mention of the High Court, which is one of the primary instruments through which Olaf tracks the Baudelaire orphans' guardianships.

"Your initial opinion on just about anything may change over time," referring to the (false) possibility that Count Olaf is not a bad as he may seem.

My 10 year old daughter loved this book! I have no idea what it is about because I myself did not read it. However, she laid in bed and read it for hours so I am assuming she really, really enjoyed it!! Now her friends are wanting it and she wants the other books in the series.