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What we're reading

Find your new favourite book or recommend one on our Book forum.

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Original poster

a series of unfortunate events by lemony snicket - info please

16 replies

gigglinggoblin · 03/01/2006 20:53

10 books for £25 from the book people. are they worth it? are they any good? what age would they be ok from? is that the authors real name?

apologies if this has been done, have searched and found nothing

OP posts:

anorak · 03/01/2006 20:56

Lemony Snicket is a fictional author. The real author is Daniel Handler. The books are pretty good, IMO, full of humour and incident, great for kids from about 8-12 years old. They follow the misfortunes of three orphans whose wicked cousin keeps trying to trick them out of their inheritance. Very dark and full of the kind of gruesome happenings that children love.

Posey · 03/01/2006 20:56

Dd is now on book 10 of the set, bought in the Book People for £25. She absolutely loves them. Tried them at about 7, but not so keen then, now she's 8 and thinks they're great.

Why not borrow just the first one from the library to see how your ds/dd? get on. They normally retail for £6.99 each so TBP is great value.

Original poster

gigglinggoblin · 03/01/2006 21:12

thank you, didnt think it could be the real name

ds1 is 7 in a couple of weeks, is very advanced with reading but less so with concentration span! might have a look at the library, have seen them about but didnt know which was 1st and is a bit difficult to have a good search when all 3 kids are tearing around.

the book people sale catalogue arrived today btw, some really good bargains if anyone is interested. sale starts tomorrow, get credit cards ready!

OP posts:

NotQuiteCockney · 03/01/2006 21:17

The Bad Beginning is the first one. I love them, DH not so impressed.

He did try reading them to DS1 (4) but they are a bit old for him.

roisin · 03/01/2006 21:22

They are great; but so far ds1 (8) has refused to read them. He has been completely put off by the blurb and preface about not wanting a happy ending, and despite the fact that he has seen the film, shows no interest in reading them, even though I know he would love them - especially the hysterical 'dictionary definition' parts of the narration and all the various puns. It's right up his street.

singersgirl · 04/01/2006 11:40

Tried them with DS1 when he was 6, but he didn't get the subversion of genre stuff and thought they were too sad to contemplate. Now he is 7.5 we are reading the first book together and he is enjoying the black humour and all those deadpan definitions that Roisin mentions. Unfortunately it does not hold his attention as much as "Doctor Who: The Shooting Scripts" which is a top Santa present in our household.
My mum got the Lemony Snicket set as the offer you describe, because she felt it was too good to miss....

Weatherwax · 04/01/2006 11:52

My dd loves these books. The teacher got her to read the first one from the school library but book 6 was the only other one she could get out so I ordered the book people set. Most of the books have been read 4/5 times and she says she prefers them to Harry Potter. I had to pay fullish price for books 11 and 12 as part of her christmas present. Dd is 7 but has a reading age of at least 10

marthamoo · 04/01/2006 11:53

I loved them (they are great to read aloud) but ds1 (8) wasn't so keen. I don't really know why.

FrenchGirl · 04/01/2006 12:13

Dd (6 and a half), very advanced reader, loves them, she has read the first three so far. She gets them when she has done 10 cello practices at home
She loves them, but not as much as she loves HP!

clerkKent · 04/01/2006 12:48

DS (11) adores them. We have 1-11 at home and he borrowed 12 from the library as soon as it came out. We have also borrowed audio versions for long car journeys - none of us wanted to stop before the end of the book.

I have read the first four to DD (7), but she got bored in the middle of that one and we abandonned it. In all the books there is a lot of description, a lot of repetition, humour, and, imho, not really much action. I agree with the others - age 8 or advanced 7 is about right to start them. £25 for the set looks good value.

Piffle · 04/01/2006 13:03

ds is 11 and has read them all over the last year or two

suedonim · 04/01/2006 16:09

I bought the boxed set for 9yo dd as part of her Xmas presents and she's almost finished the entire lot! V good value, imo.

Original poster

gigglinggoblin · 05/01/2006 08:41

thanks for all replies, i will order them when i get chance to look through the rest of the sale aswell

hadnt even thought of letting him read hp for some reason, they are my books

OP posts:

SoupDragon · 05/01/2006 09:12

DS2 (nearly 7) got these (from the book people via Santa!) and both him and DS2 (nearly 5) like haveig them read as a bedtime story.

SueW · 05/01/2006 10:04

DD (9) got these from my mum/bookpeople and read the lot within a few days. She's just borrowed 11 & 12 from the library earlier this week - was thrilled to find them - and has finished those already! I'm not sure she's realised she's now got a long wait for the final one..

suedonim · 05/01/2006 20:43

Dd2 doesn't want to finish the last book in her set and is eeking it out with delaying tactics such as counting the pages in each chapter and comparing that number with the chapters in the previous books. She had some book tokens and money for Xmas so is planning to buy 11 and 12 on Saturday.

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