A Series of Unfortunate Events By Lemony Snicket

ISBN: 9781405249539

A Series of Unfortunate Events is a series of thirteen children’s novels by Lemony Snicket, the pen name of American author Daniel Handler. The books follow the turbulent lives of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire, who, after their parents’ tragic death in a fire, are placed in the custody of a murderous relative, Count Olaf, of whom the children have never heard before. Count Olaf attempts to steal their inheritance and, later, orchestrates numerous disasters with the help of his accomplices as the children attempt to flee.

The books are written in easy-to-read style and language, but where higher-level vocabulary is used, the author explains the word or concept throughout the text. For example, “…and occasionally their parents gave them permission to take a rickety trolley – the word “rickety”, you probably know, here means “unsteady” or “likely to collapse” – alone to the seashore…”

Some brilliant illustrations by Brett Helquist are included throughout the books, giving a more realistic feel to the text.

This series is suitable for kids aged 7-13.

The books in the series are as follows:
1. The Bad Beginning (1999)
2. The Reptile Room (1999)
3. The Wide Window (2000)
4. The Miserable Mill (2000)
5. The Austere Academy (2000)
6. The Ersatz Elevator (2001)
7. The Vile Village (2001)
8. The Hostile Hospital (2001)
9. The Carnivorous Carnival (2002)
10. The Slippery Slope (2003)
11. The Grim Grotto (2004)
12. The Penultimate Peril (2005)
13. The End (2006)

Each book in the series (except The End, of course, for obvious reasons) includes an illustration in the last drawing in the book that foreshadows the events of the sequel. In the illustration of the Baudelaire children leaving with Mr Poe in the end of The Bad Beginning, for example, there is a drawing of a snake curled around a street light, foreshadowing the events of The Reptile Room, the next book in the series.

Elements of The Bad Beginning were featured in the 2004 film adaptation of the first three books in the series, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.