Rating: 
Summary: Teacher Recommended
Review: I am a second grade teacher and I read the first three books aloud to my students. They enjoyed them so much that students would purchase the books on their own and read them along with me. A few students even purchased subsequent books to read on their own.
Like many reviewers, I loved that fact that the author included vocabulary instruction while I was reading the chapters aloud to my students. I also felt that the plot was exciting and captured the attention of my students.
Although the Baudelaire children live very tragic lives, the one theme that comes across in all the books is the importance of having each other to lean on in any situation. What I also like about these stories is all three children (along with the Quagmire triplets) have a unique talent and all of the children are integral to the plot of the stories. Unlike some reviewers, I believe that these books are great reading for children because they teach children to value the support from others. The books, while pessimistic, have an optimistic view because the orphans do not let anything get in their way of achieving true happiness!
Rating: 
Summary: The GREAT Beginning, in the Bad Beginning
Review: Do you like ending books by... "...and the Happy Unicorn flew over the Rainbow, to all her unicorn friends."? Well if so you may not want read this book.The Bad beginning is a great introduction to Violet, Claus, and Sunney's Bad luck streak in the Series of Unfortunate Events. Once you pick up this book you will have a classic case of 'eyes glued to book syndrom'. Symtoms include... staying up late at night under the covers with the book in your hand, refusing to go any place with out the book, and frequent questions running through your mind of "what's gonna happen next?" The Bad beginning is a great inro. to Violet, Claus, and Sunny's life, and to the rest of the series. This bok WILL make you want to read the rest of the series. DONT PASS IT UP!
Rating:
Summary: The Great Interduction
Review: The Bad Beginnning in the Series of Unfortunate Events series is a great book. This book is a great interduction to the Series of unfortunate events series. The Bad Beginning WILL make you want to read the rest of the series. DONT PASS THIS BOOK UP!
Rating:
Summary: good book
Review: this book i was recomended by my little cousin who is 9 years old. i started to read this book because i was bored and i thought it would be a childish book, but it is not although i would not recomend this book to anyone over the age of 13 i read all the books and absolutely loved them they are full of awesome adventures
Rating: 
Summary: Trash it.
Review: I just finished this book, which I read since someone recommended it to my son and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I am a fan of children's books and read them often... I do have an imagination, but I hated this book. I did like the writer's style and some of the characters, however cannot comprehend why people would find the abuse of children entertaining. If you want to read about clever children escaping danger and strange predicaments, I recommend the Spiderwick Chronicles. There is adventure, good characters, and no child abuse... I would not want to pass it along to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely Origional!!
Review: This book is my all time favorite. All I can say is that Lemony Snicket is the most incredible author!! Origional, funny, and dismal this book is perfect for a rainy Sunday afternoon with nothing to do!!! I read this book in an hour 'cause I enjoyed it so much! You definetaly have to read about the 3 kids (Violet, Sunny, and Clause) in their funny, and dismal adventures. Definetely a MUST read!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Rude, Disguisting and poorly written!
Review: As a reader of this book and not a parent, I would like to warn all prospective readers of this book. Several friends reccomened it to me, and I had nightmeres for nights after I finished it. The story follows three orphans who don't get anything good in life, no hapiness, nothing, which is rather unbelivable. All the adults are either horribly mean or too dumb to help the kids.
I might have at least giving it 2 stars if it wasn't so poorly written. It tells you what a word means far too often, which gets annoying and distracting. There is no humor or real tear jerking moments, just horror.
Overall, the book is a horror. Don't waste your hard earned money.
Rating:
Summary: Much Needed in Overly Happy Days
Review: Unlike the majority of reviews before mine, I found Mr. Snicket's tale of the Baudelaire orphans to be quite enjoyable, refreshing, and earnest. It's a very rare thing to encounter a piece of literature where within the story the characters find very little hope. It seems that tragedies are a thing of the past, with the exception of a Series of Unforunate Events. Most people read in order to escape their own woes and miseries, but there is a great comfort in finding sympathy within the pages of a book by reading that you are not the only unlucky person faced with dreadful circumstances. It is true, as the author "warns" repeatedly throughout the book, that the tale neither begins nor ends happily, but it does make a much needed point. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire lost their parents, home, and possessions to a fire that destroyed their house. They have to live with a distant relative (Count Olaf) who is truly a deplorable person and who is after their inheritance. But despite the turmoil, the siblings remain hopeful. They are intelligent and kind, and are loving and protective towards one another. Brothers and sisters are rarely protrayed as having harmonious relationships, nor are teens and pre-teens ever portrayed as being interested in books and learning. The children are treated horribly by their "new father." He verbally demeans them, occasionally strikes them, and eventually concots a plan to marry the eldest daughter Violet. When they seek confidence and aid in the executor of their parents' estate he does not sympathize with them and shrugs off their complaints as "adjusting to their new lives." I did not find this "stupid" or unrealistic, as guidance counsellors and policemen alike have rolled their eyes at claims of child abuse by teenagers a million times over because their cries are just "simply ridiculous." I plan on collecting the remainder of Mr. Snicket's books to read to my children. I do believe that they have a place in a child's life, if only to show them how truly nasty some people are or can be. Whether they're related to you or not, every person has the potential to be completely and utterly insidious. Children must be aware of such potential, and they have to understand that actions such as Count Olaf's in the book are not acceptible.
Rating: 
Summary: A Pretty Boring Beginning to some Pretty Boring Books
Review: Ok, I'm 15, and therefore a bit older than the target audience, but I decided to read the first two books of the series last year when I was bored (my sister owns every one). I'm a big fan of the Harry Potter, Roal Dahl, Artemis Fowl, and His Dark Materials books, but I fail to see what so many kids like about this series. I'm not complaining that it's too creepy or violent, since I don't think it is, but the plot and characters don't interest me at all. Unfortunately, this Lemony Snicket has realized that taking orphans and having bad things happen to them equals big sales and a big fan base. It's too bad that so many kids are reading these subpar books. Most older readers will probably notice the many flaws in them. First of all, the only reason they seem to be orphans is that Harry Potter is, and it seems to translate into sales. The main characters aren't interesting in the least, and have absolutely no personality. Now, my biggest complaint is the constant "unfortunate events." It's not that it's depressing, but it just becomes boring and repetitive. Without some bright spots, how are we supposed to care about these kids, when we know that nothing but bad things will happen? Anytime they seem to meet a nice person, they die or become separated from the main characters. Aside from the irritating word definitions, the writing style is decent, which is one of the few good things I have to say about these books. Just skip these, and read Harry Potter a few more times (or read Artemis Fowl, His Dark Materials, and Roal Dahl's books if you haven't done so already).
Rating:
Summary: The Bad Beginning (a very bad beginning!)
Review: One day at school, everyone began to talk about Lemony Snicket. Lemony Snicket this, Lemony Snicket that, Lemony Snicket is better than J.K Rowling and should be compared to Tolkien, etc. This convinced me to go and buy the first two books of the series. At first the excessively large print and the terribly high price gave me an instinct to buy something else, but with the words of my classmates ringing in my head I bought the books.
They had to be the worst books I have ever read. Some children lose their parents and try to escape from their evil uncle, how very cliched. Don't let any rumours get to your head like they did to me, ending up with a waste of a lot of money on some rubbishy books. And the Bad Beginning is cracked up to be very sad. Very sad book, my knee. Just about every other children's book I have read is sadder than this, and not once throughout the whole book did I feel a scrap of sympathy for the children.
In my opinion, this book is a waste of everything. Money, time and paper. Read something else. Read ANYTHING but this book.
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