Rating: 
Summary: Unfortunate but Fun!
Review: This is a fun book and I really enjoy how they use vocabulary definitions within the story and make it flow. These are fun characters and a delightful read. I can't wait until I get to read the rest of the books. This is a good series for both boys and girls and I think a wide range of children would enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: Hilarious
Review: I believe Snicket is indeed giving Rowling a run for her money! This book is truly the work of a highly intelligent and highly comical individual. Far from being evil or dangerous for kids, the book is inventive engaging, and happens to be a real page turner. The characters are far from flat and invoke sympathy or disgust. The children are loveable, especially Sunny, the biting baby. Sprinkled throughout the book are opportunities for children to not only witness an interesting story, but also opportunities to add new words to their vocabularies. Add to this the fact that the book s are not overly dense and long and you have the receipe for the perfect children's book. Important: This book can also be emjoyed immensely by adults.
Rating: 
Summary: The Bad Beginning
Review: The Bad Beginning
By: Lemony Snicket
Reviewed by: A. Chin
Period 5The Bad Beginning is about three siblings, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire. The story starts off with the three siblings being at the beach. While they are there, Mr. Poe, their caretaker, comes and tells them that their parents have just died while their house was on fire. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny cannot believe this. They don't seem to believe how it had happened so fast. The three of them were at the beach, and the next thing they knew was their parents have been died. Mr. Poe then tells them that they must live in is house for a couple of days until he can find a suitable home for them. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny soon find themselves living in Count Olaf's home. The three children hate their new home. The house is covered with pictures of eyes and everything is dark and gloomy. Not only that, the three children have to share a tiny room with only one bed in it. Violet and Klaus take turns sleeping on the bed while Sunny sleeps on a pile of window curtains. The only great thing about Count Olaf's neighborhood is their next-door neighbor, Justice Strauss. The children see her as a kind and caring person. They soon find out that Count Olaf is after the Baudelaires' fortune. One day, Count Olaf tells Violet that she must marry him or else Sunny will be dropped from the thirty-foot high tower. Violet has no choice at all but to marry him. If Violet marries him he will inherit the Baudelaire fortune. To prevent this from happening, Violet and Klaus must quickly figure out a way to stop Violet from marrying Count Olaf. On the day of the wedding, Violet is dressed in a dull wedding gown. When the time comes for her to sign her name on the wedding paper with her own hand, she uses her left hand because she is right-handed. This means that she did not verify her wedding with Count Olaf legal. Count Olaf is furious with this and before they know it the lights are turned off and the room is pitch-black. Everyone walks blindly and chaos happens everywhere. When Violet turns on the lights again Count Olaf and his henchmen are gone. They have all escaped. Although Count Olaf and his henchmen have escaped, they will be back to try to steal the Baudelaire fortune once again. As for now, the Baudelaires' are safe with Mr. Poe.
I liked this book because it has a nice story plot. I like it how the story is about these three miserable children. Although it is sad, it is very interesting. I like it how the author describes the life of these Baudelaires' and what's going on in their lives. The author describes how they feel in a very sad way. One way of showing this is when he wrote, "Klaus felt an icy chill go through him as the horrible man spoke. He had never been so terrified in all his life. He found that his arms and legs were shaking uncontrollably, as if he were having some sort of fit. His mouth was making strange sounds, like Sunny always did, as he struggled to find something to say." This is my first reason of why I like this book. I also liked this book because of the characters and their characteristics. For example, Violet loves to invent things and Klaus loves to read tons of books. Sunny likes to bite things as well. One quote proving this is, "Violet had a real knack for inventing and building strange devices, so her brain was often filled with images of pulleys, levers, and gears, and she never wanted to be distracted by something as trivial as her hair." This is my second reason of why I like this book. My favorite part in the book was when Count Olaf tries to marry Violet. This is my favorite part because there is a lot of action going on. During this part, many things are going on at the same time. For example, when Violet tells Count Olaf that she did not sign with her "own hand", Count Olaf becomes furious. Right after he finds out he tells the hook-handed man to drop Sunny from the thirty-foot tower, the hook-handed man has already brought her out from her cage. Right after that, one of Count Olaf's henchmen turn off the lights of the auditorium. The entire room is pitch-black. Nobody can see and everything turns into chaos. People are running frantically in every direction there is to go. Violet then is able to find the light switch and turn the lights back on. When she does, Count Olaf and his henchmen have escaped. There is a lot of action during this part in the book. This is why this is my favorite part of the book.
Rating:
Summary: Like watching a train wreck..
Review: I can't believe some of the people who have read this book think that kids won't understand the humor in it. The plot was a bit weak (hence the 4 stars) but it wasn't that bad...I read it in about 30 minutes before mailing it to my younger cousin for Christmas. I liked it enough to quote a few lines to my parents (mostly the sarcast definitions of words) and didn't feel it was too dangerous for a 9-year-old to read. The people who are writing in reviews of this book that talk about how inappropriate and damaging a book like this is should take a look at the traditional fairy tales that kids like so much...I mean, as a little kid, (I'm 21) I loved the original version of Cinderella way more than the Disney version. Plus, sugar-coating reality (like abuse and mistreatment) doesn't make it not exist, and kids should recognise that many of the things that happen to the characters in the books are wrong and shouldn't happen to anyone. You could even use some of the topics to start a line of dialogue with your kids about such themes. All together, a good book...though overrated and much over-feared.
Rating:
Summary: The Bad Beginning
Review: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket is, in my opinion, the fifth best book in the world. The book takes place in an unnamed city. Three children named Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire lived quite happily with their parents in a glorious mansion. Violet is inventive, Klaus is intelligent, and Sunny ' well, Sunny is an enthusiastic infant who likes to bite things. While at the beach one day, they come to learn that their house has burned and their parents have died. They go to live with an evil distant cousin named Count Olaf, who is also part of a theatre troupe. You'll want to keep turning the pages to find out if they live through this or not!
This book is a wonderful book with many twists. Whenever there is a word or phrase you may not know the meaning of, there is usually a funny definition. For instance, for the word 'briskly' the definition was 'quickly so as to get the Baudelaires to leave the house'. The Bad Beginning is full of evil. The evil includes a greedy and repulsive villain, itchy clothing, a disastrous fire, a plot to steal lots of money, and cold porridge for breakfast. Lemony Snicket's work is highly original. It is a sad book, and it doesn't have a happy ending, but that is one thing that makes this book great!
Mr. Snicket is a hermit and a nomad, which may be one reason why his books are so miserable. Lemony Snicket has never had his picture taken from the front. He usually keeps to himself. This book is a beautiful piece of work, and I recommend it to all Harry Potter fans (although it has no magic in it, whatsoever). However, keep in mind Mr. Snicket's warning: 'If you prefer books with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book'!
Rating:
Summary: One of my favorite books
Review: The Bad Beginnings is one of my favorite books of The Series of Unfortunate Events. Bad Beginnings is the first of The Series of Unfortunate Events. Its about three children named Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire lived a happy life with their mother and father and their wonderful fortune. Every thing goes wrong on a gloomy day when a fire starts at the beautiful home. Everything is destroyed with the fire including their happy life and their parents. Before their parents died they made a will saying the children live with a relative, but everyone is dead except for a mysterious, mean man named Count Olaf. He knows about the children's fortune and plans to take it with his evil gang and plans. Will the children retain their fortune; will they have hope for a new good life? Find out by reading the great book, The Bad Beginnings.
Rating:
Summary: A thrilling and exciting book!
Review: The Bad Beginning
Lemony Snicket
Reviewed by: A Pandey
Period : 5th The Baudelaire's are great and a wealthy family, but not for long. Terrible news comes to Violet, Klaus, and Sunny when they were at the beach. Mr. Poe their family's banker came and told the children's that their parents had died in a terrible fire. Now the 3 kids Violet, who was interested in inventing stuff, Klaus who loved to read books, and Sunny who loved to bite things all became an orphan. Violet being the oldest child swear oath that she will protect her siblings no matter what. Mr. Poe took these orphans and gave them to Count Olaf, not knowing that he is an evil uncle. The only thing Count Olaf did was tried to snatch the fortune of the Baudelaire. The Baudelaire's parents had left an enormous amount of money for their kids but they could only get it when they turn 18. Count Olaf tried to snatch the fortune by marring Violet because she is the oldest. He failed to get the Fortune and right before the police caught him he told the kids he would come back for the fortune! Unfortunately, Count Olaf managed to escape when the police came.
I loved this book because this book does not have a happy ending like the other common books. The author in this book actually tells the readers not to buy his work because its very sad, and not a happy ending. You can never put this book down because in every chapter there is something new and exciting. For instant at the end of the book no one knew that Violet would sign the marriage paper with her left hand. A thing like that really excites me. From the time of their parent's death till the escape of Count Olaf the book was never boring! One of the favorite quotes I like in this book was when Count Olaf said,
"I will come back to steal your fortune". That quote is now going to make me read the next book.
There actually wasn't anything that I didn't like about this book. I thought it would be boring by the cover; instead it came out to be a great book. I really liked the characters of this book because all the three Baudelaire's are different. Violet is trying to save her sister with the help of Klaus. Sunny has become a hostage until the marriage of Voilet and Count Olaf. The other quote from this book is by Mr. Poe, " Your parents died in a terrible fire". This quote had got me out of my bed and ready to read the great book.
My favorite part of the book was when; Count Olaf was going to marry Violet. He had told her that if she doesn't agree with the marriage he would tell his members to kill her little sister, Sunny. Violet was really scared and didn't want her sister to die, so she agreed by signing the paper. Count Olaf was really happy and he was about to leave when Violet told everyone about him and what he wants to do by marrying her. Violet also told i should not be married to him because I signed the paper with my left hand when, I always sign with my right hand. The judge agreed and called the police to capture Count Olaf but he was too quick and he ran away. This was my favorite part of the book because it was the most exciting part, you didn't know what would come next.
Rating: 
Summary: There is no excuse for this kind of writing.
Review: Lemony Snicket's The Bad Beginning is the first in the Series of Unfortunate Events, and it chronicles the bad beginning of the unfortunate events of the newly-orphaned Baudelaire siblings. I expected at least the level of intelligence represented in the Boxcar Children, but was confronted with a self-congratulatory narrator who talks down to his target audience, frequently stopping to define words for his woefully misinformed readers. I found the tone entirely too self-aware, taking away from the story. And what little story there was! Unbelievable, one-dimensional characters coloured this book, which was about three orphans who had just lost their parents, and faced a horrible relative who was after their family fortune. The whole thing reminded me of the cackling villain tying his female captive to the rail in old silent movies -- Count Olaf had no motivation besides the money, and (predictably) exploited and endangered the children without remorse to get it. None of the characters showed any "real" emotion (Snicket in fact seems completely uncomfortable with emotion), not even the children when facing the sudden deaths of their parents. The book might as well have had "TO BE CONTINUED" stamped on the final page after a truncated sentence for all the ominous "foreshadowing" it forced down the reader's throat. Total trash. Whoever allowed this to be published should be ashamed.
Rating:
Summary: from Chris " A GREAT BOOK"
Review: the reason the bad beginning is a great book is that it is full of mystery, it has a great story plot and it has a devious villian with a devious plan to steal a fortune from 3 kids. the 3 kids are Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire are orphans with a fortune, a big one I might add. It is a great book if you are looking for mystery I give it 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: The terrible, no good, very bad beginning (it's a delight)
Review: People lacking a sense of humor, a sense of irony, and a sense of the whimsical do not get these books. People lacking an understanding of the intelligence of children do not like these books. And people lacking the comprehension that sometimes a story is good simply because it turns classical conventions on their head do not understand these books. "The Series of Unfortunate Events", ever popular and entirely urbane, began here in 1999 with the simple story. "The Bad Beginning". They have been making cool millions ever since. Elegantly bound and rendered beautiful by artist Brett Helquist's adept illustrations, the books tap into that sense of macabre that lurks at the heart of every girl and boy. Picking up the book, the reader is instantly told not to read the thing. Says its back, "It is my sad duty to write down these unpleasant tales, but there is nothing stopping you from putting this book down at once and reading something happy, if you prefer that sort of thing". It's the old reverse psychology ruse. Tell the children not to read the story and they'll come screaming at you for more. The story itself is simple. The three newly orphaned Baudelaire siblings have been sent to their nearest relative to live; one nasty Count Olaf. Prepared to do whatever it takes to get his hands on the Baudelaire fortune (a fortune the children themselves cannot inherit until the eldest, Violet, is of age) the Count makes the children's lives miserable, even as he schemes to get their moolah. Don't think, however, that the children are entirely helpless. Using their cunning and special skills the kids are more than adequate adversaries to Count Olaf and it is due to their brains that they are able to fight another day. The book uses a lot of classic motifs to appeal to its young readership. Often the narrator will address the reader directly, either imploring them to go do something cheerier or defining unfamiliar terms for them. Author Daniel Handler (pen name Lemony Snicket) is an adept writer. Though the Count is threatening and dislikable, his violence is mostly implied rather than overt (with some definite exceptions). Kids are safe reading this series and, though they do encounter corpses once in a while, nothing too terrible ever befalls the children. The mystery behind the series has yet to be revealed. Certainly there are many loose ends to be tied up by the end of these books (there will be, the ever apt, 13 in all). How did the children's parents die? Who is Lemony Snicket, the omniscient narrator? All will be revealed in time. Meanwhile, look forward to the upcoming movie with Jim Carrey as the Count. No, I do not kid.
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