The Bad Beginning

THE BAD BEGINNING by Lemony Snicket
Illustrated by Brett Helquist
Category: Action-Adventure
Age Recommendation: Grades 6+
Release Date: 9/30/99
Publisher: HarperCollins
Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"
Rating: 4 Stars

After already having seen the movie version of A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS, I decided to invest in reading
the books. Book one, 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 parents' estate, they learn that their parents' will states that
they must be cared for by a relative. The closest relative, unbeknown to the children, is Count Olaf, an actor and the leader of
a theatre troupe who lives in a dilapidated 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 two 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 eight 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.