Available:*
Item Barcode | Collection | Call Number | Status | Item Holds |
---|---|---|---|---|
33607003356337 | Middle Fiction | SNICKET | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
Dear Listener, I am sorry to say that the lives of the Baudelaire orphans, Violet, Klaus and Sunny, are filled with bad luck and misery. All of the stories about these three children are unhappy and wretched, and the one you are holding may be the worst of them all. If you haven't got the stomach for a story that includes a hurricane, hungry leeches, cold cucumber soup and a doll named Pretty Penny, then this audio will probably fill you with despair. I also shouldn't mention the interactive features of the CD, which include: A perplexing word game Photos from The Lemony Snicket Archives Art from The Brett Helquist gallery With all due respect, Lemony Snicket
Author Notes
Lemony Snicket is the pen name of Daniel Handler, who was born on February 28, 1970. As Lemony Snicket, he is the author of and appears as a character in the children's book series A Series of Unfortunate Events. He has also written or contributed to other works using this pen name including Baby in the Manger, The Lump of Coal, The Composer Is Dead, and Where Did You See Her Last?.
Under his real name, Handler is the author of several books for adults including The Basic Eight, Watch Your Mouth, and Adverbs.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (1)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-8-The dreary, miserable cloud of disaster continues to follow the Baudelaire children in the third book of this series by Lemony Snicket (HarperCollins, 2000). As in the previous books, the orphaned Baudelaire children are placed in a relative's care by their kind-hearted, albeit bumbling guardian, Mr. Poe. Within minutes of arriving at their new home, they realize that life with paranoid, grammatically correct Aunt Josephine will only cause their current situation to go from bad to worse. The only redeeming factor to a life of slimy cold cucumber soup, living on the shores of a leech-filled lake, or the threat of an approaching hurricane is the absence of the revolting Count Olaf whose sole desire is to steal the Baudelaire fortune. But as luck would have it, Count Olaf is successful in finding the Baudelaires and conniving his way into their lives. Never have the subjects of child endangerment, fraud, and murder been so appealing to young readers. And never has reverse psychology worked its magic as it does when the author reminds youngsters that he is not forcing anyone to read the horrible tale he must tell. Lemony Snicket is the sole narrator and does a fine job, especially as the sneering voice of Count Olaf. His rhythm and voice inflections correctly reflect each character's situation and emotions. Audiobook collections with the first two titles will want to purchase this one; otherwise, purchase all three.-Cheryl Preisendorfer, Portage County District Library, OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Excerpts
Excerpts
A Series of Unfortunate Events #3: The Wide Window Chapter One If you didn't know much about the Baudelaire orphans, and you saw them sitting on their suitcases at Damocles Dock, you might think that they were bound for an exciting adventure. After all, the three children had just disembarked from the Fickle Ferry, which had driven them across Lake Lachrymose to live with their Aunt Josephine, and in most cases such a situation would lead to thrillingly good times. But of course you would be dead wrong. For although Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire were about to experience events that would be both exciting and memorable, they would not be exciting and memorable like having your fortune told or going to a rodeo. Their adventure would be exciting and memorable like being chased by a werewolf through a field of thorny bushes at midnight with nobody around to help you. If you are interested in reading a story filled with thrillingly good times, I am sorry to inform you that you are most certainly reading the wrong book, because the Baudelaires experience very few good times over the course of their gloomy and miserable lives. It is a terrible thing, their misfortune, so terrible that I can scarcely bring myself to write about it. So if you do not want to read a story of tragedy and sadness, this is your very last chance to put this book down, because the misery of the Baudelaire orphans begins in the very next paragraph. "Look what I have for you," Mr. Poe said, grinning from ear to ear and holding out a small paper bag. "Peppermints!" Mr. Poe was a banker who had been placed in charge of handling the affairs of the Baudelaire orphans after their parents died. Mr. Poe was kindhearted, but it is not enough in this world to be kindhearted, particularly if you are responsible for keeping children out of danger. Mr. Poe had known the three children since they were born, and could never remember that they were allergic to peppermints. "Thank you, Mr. Poe," Violet said, and took the paper bag and peered inside. Like most fourteen-year-olds, Violet was too well mannered to mention that if she ate a peppermint she would break out in hives, a phrase which here means "be covered in red, itchy rashes for a few hours." Besides, she was too occupied with inventing thoughts to pay much attention to Mr. Poe. Anyone who knew Violet would know that when her hair was tied up in a ribbon to keep it out of her eyes, the way it was now, her thoughts were filled with wheels, gears, levers, and other necessary things for inventions. At this particular moment she was thinking of how she could improve the engine of the Fickle Ferry so it wouldn't belch smoke into the gray sky. "That's very kind of you," said Klaus, the middle Baudelaire child, smiling at Mr. Poe and thinking that if he had even one lick of a peppermint, his tongue would swell up and he would scarcely be able to speak. Klaus took his glasses off and wished that Mr. Poe had bought him a book or a newspaper instead. Klaus was a voracious reader, and when he had learned about his allergy at a birthday party when he was eight, he had immediately read all his parents' books about allergies. Even four years later he could recite the chemical formulas that caused his tongue to swell up. "Toi!" Sunny shrieked. The youngest Baudelaire was only an infant, and like many infants, she spoke mostly in words that were tricky to understand. By "Toi!" she probably meant "I have never eaten a peppermint because I suspect that I, like my siblings, am allergic to them," but it was hard to tell. She may also have meant "I wish I could bite a peppermint, because I like to bite things with my four sharp teeth, but I don't want to risk an allergic reaction." "You can eat them on your cab ride to Mrs. Anwhistle's house," Mr. Poe said, coughing into his white handkerchief. Mr. Poe always seemed to have a cold and the Baudelaire orphans were accustomed to receiving information from him between bouts of hacking and wheezing. "She apologizes for not meeting you at the dock, but she says she's frightened of it." "Why would she be frightened of a dock?" Klaus asked, looking around at the wooden piers and sailboats. "She's frightened of anything to do with Lake Lachrymose," Mr. Poe said, "but she didn't say why. Perhaps it has to do with her husband's death. Your Aunt Josephine--she's not really your aunt, of course; she's your second cousin's sister-in-law, but asked that you call her Aunt Josephine--your Aunt Josephine lost her husband recently, and it may be possible that he drowned or died in a boat accident. It didn't seem polite to ask how she became a dowager. Well, let's put you in a taxi." "What does that word mean?" Violet asked. Mr. Poe looked at Violet and raised his eyebrows. "I'm surprised at you, Violet," he said. "A girl of your age should know that a taxi is a car which will drive you someplace for a fee. Now, let's gather your luggage and walk to the curb." "'Dowager,'" Klaus whispered to Violet, "is a fancy word for 'widow.'""Thank you," she whispered back, picking up her suitcase in one hand and Sunny in the other. Mr. Poe was waving his handkerchief in the air to signal a taxi to stop, and in no time at all the cabdriver piled all of the Baudelaire suitcases into the trunk and Mr. Poe piled the Baudelaire children into the back seat. "I will say good-bye to you here," Mr. Poe said. "The banking day has already begun, and I'm afraid if I go with you out to Aunt Josephine's I will never get anything done. A Series of Unfortunate Events #3: The Wide Window . Copyright © by Lemony Snicket. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold. Excerpted from The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.