I am currently reading the Series of Unfortunate Events to my five-year-old daughter. Admittedly, she is a lot younger than the target audience of this book but I read the first five books in the series myself first in order to make an informed decision about whether they were appropriate or not. They have been a big hit. This book was enjoyed just as much as the previous three books. In fact, with this one, the younger brother (3 years old) even started to interject during the book too (in his own words "Count Olaf is funny and very silly!"). Both kids adore the way that it is always really obvious to everybody, except Mr Poe, that the new character introduced in each book is the bad guy Count Olaf and every time Mr Poe fails to see it they both jump up and down screaming "but it's Count Olaf!!!" (complete, in the five year old's case, with repeated slapping of forehead in absolute disbelief). The kids loved the character of Aunt Josephine and the older one guffawed every time they mentioned something else she was afraid of (her particular favorite being the fear of realtors and having her hair in her face). I really liked the fact that even Count Olaf's name was obviously fake in this book (Captain Sham) and this added yet another new word to the kids' vocabulary (something these books have been doing a lot!)

One of the things that has amazed me about these books is that my daughter often has a problem with books which contain scary baddies and have bad things happening. However, the author always makes sure that you know well in advance when somebody's going to be killed or something bad is going to happen. This manages to get her used to the fact at least a couple of chapters before it happens and it doesn't seem to bother her at all (she's generally too busy laughing to take much notice). Book 4, here we come... ( )

Great fun. Must complete the set someday. ( )

Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com

Those poor Baudelaire orphans. After the death of their beloved Uncle Monty, the third installment of Lemony Snicket's tale has Violet, Klaus, and Sunny heading toward the home of yet another new guardian. Left by Mr. Poe at Damocles Dock at the edge of Lake Lachrymose for the taxi that will take them to the home of Josephine Anwhistle, the orphans must once again wonder about what fate holds in store for them. Will the gramatically correct dowager be kind like Uncle Morty, or retched like Count Olaf?

It turns out that Aunt Josephine is a mixture of the two. Although she welcomes them into her home, the woman is so terrified by everything--the stove, glass doorknobs, radiators, and even realtors--that the children are hard pressed to enjoy their dinners of cold cucumber soup and their presents of a baby doll, train set, and rattle. Living high above the Lake that is full of the leeches that devoured Josephine's husband, Ike, the three Baudelaire children have a hard time convincing their Aunt to even leave the house.

On a trip to the market, however, who should appear once again with yet another despicable plan to steal the Baudelaire fortune but Count Olaf--this time in the disguise of Captain Sham, a man with an eye patch and peg leg who has opened a boating company of his own. Josephine, of course, is at once enamored of the dashing Captain, and Mr. Poe, as always, is not convinced by the children's claim that Captain Sham and Count Olaf are one and the same. What follows is another does of typical Baudelaire fair--diabolical plans, a terrible hurricane named Herman, a bizarre restaurant named the Anxious Clown, a boat ride across a leech-filled lake, a rescue at Curdled Cave, and another meet-up with Count Olaf's nasty associates.

THE WIDE WINDOW is another winning story in the tales of the Baudelaire orphans. The story took me about an hour and a half to read, and is suitable for children around ages 9 and up. Again, however, you'll need to base your decision of its suitability based on the maturity of your children, as this book is just as dark as the first two. ( )

Its about the siblings aunt

The third book in "A Series of Unfortunate Events" is the best so far. The plotting is better than the previous two books (particularly the first), and there is some genuinely exciting scenes. It is probably the most cinematic of the books, or at least the one that would make the best movie. It still has all the charm and absurdity of the first novels, including this gem from near the end of the book (not a spoiler): "But even if they could go home it would be difficult for me to tell you what the moral of the story is. In some stories, it's easy. The moral of 'The Three Bears,' for instance, is 'Never break into someone else's house.' The moral of 'Snow White' is 'Never eat apples.' The moral of World War One is 'Never assassinate Archduke Ferdinand.'" With prose like that, how could I stop reading? I look forward to tackling book 4 soon! ( )