13 Words

I enjoy Lemony Snicket almost as much as I enjoy saying his name, which is a lot. I always noticed how he worked new and interesting vocabulary words into the Series of Unfortunate Events books, but I never thought he'd make a whole children's book centered around certain words. An interesting theory and something children can definitely learn from, Mr. Snicket takes these 13 seemingly unrelated words and uses them all to spin a silly and delightful tale that will have just about anyone smiling. A really great book to use with children when you are encouraging them to make sentences out of vocabulary words. It will be so interesting for them to see an author making a whole story out of a list of words. Some children might not understand show more all the words, but I think they can definitely get the concept. I also liked it because even being 20 and in college I have to admit I learned a new word myself. Thank you, Mr. Snicket. show less

The ever clever Lemony Snicket, author of The Series of Unfortunate Events, has created a surreal and humorous story out of 13 seemingly unrelated words. The story begins with a bird (word #1) who is despondent (word #2) so he eats some cake (word #3) with his friend, a dog (word #4). The dog decides to cheer the bird up by getting him a hat (word #8) from the haberdashery (word #9). The bird likes her hat very much and then a mezzo-soprano (word #13) walks in with more cake and sings about the events of the day. Everyone eats cake, but the bird is still just a little bit despondent.

Snicket, the pen name for author Daniel Handler, doesn’t just connect the dots in this story, he adds his unique blend of ironic and black humor to create show more a surreal story that is oddly captivating. You really don’t know what the next word will be. What new event will be revealed? Who will walk through the door next? The vocabulary is impressive and sophisticated, but Snicket manages to define words within in the story in a witty way. There are details that seem to be included in the story, just because they tickled Snicket’s funny bone, such as the goat in the spiffy jacket that drives the convertible. You may ask “why?”, but I think Snicket might answer, “why not?”

The painterly illustrations create a surreal visual world to go along with the text. Realism has no place here. Perspective and relative size are disregarded. For instance, as the dog and the goat drive to town, the road winds through a landscape of multicolored hills, giant animals, twisted trees, and even an angel with a tambourine. The colors are bright and the brush strokes are proudly displayed.

Full Review at Picture-Book-a-Day: http://picturebookaday.blogspot.com/2012/07/book-201-13-words-by-lemony-snicket.... show less

Snicket, L., & Kalman, M. (2010). 13 words. New York: Harper.

This droll picture book by Lemony Snicket will have some teachers and students scratching their heads. He weaves a very silly—and in places absurd—story (“Now my friend is busy painting eleven ladders in ten colors”) around thirteen unrelated words, which he obliquely defines when necessary (“haberdashery” and “despondent”). It is deceptively simple, yet the thirteen very random words do weave a fun tale. The illustrations more than carry the text—they provide a lively, vibrant realm in which this amusing tale can be told. The picture of the despondent bird reading a magazine with a ‘do rag on his head (after painting the 11 ladders) is very endearing. The show more book works on several levels: writing a book in this style would make for a very creative activity for 4th grade and up, but the book as a story is best suited for K-3. However, there are a few images that could only be understood by an older reader (a little book titled “Kafka” on the despondent bird’s table). The whimsical style of writing is very appropriate for the overall theme of the book. 13 Words has “relaxing” and “fun” written all over it—but not literally. No awards could be found. show less

13 Words is like an exercise for a creative writing class or a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants story you tell your kids when they request one and you are too tired or lacking in energy to come up with a coherent plot. The book's cover jacket lists 13 unrelated words, which range from the fairly mundane, everyday words most young readers would recognize (i.e., bird, cake) to the unusual, fun-to-say words (i.e., haberdashery, panache). The text of the book itself aims to wrap together all these together into a story, which it does with some success. The story is silly and absurd, but it doesn't quite live up to the genius of Snicket's books for older children, A Series of Unfortunate Events. Nevertheless, it should be pleasing to young show more children and, failing that, will at least teach them some new words! show less

Just as baffling and amusing as the first time I read it. The story is written matter-of-factly, though it makes very little sense. (Why does the bird have to paint eleven ladders in ten colors? What kind of baby owns a haberdashery?) This book is a fine example of a picture book that has much more advanced vocabulary than any chapter book normally would.
Maira Kalman's illustrations are whimsical and colorful.

This book is a pure delight. Out of 13 seemingly random words, Lemony Snicket (aka Daniel Handler) has created a touchingly funny little tale, all married with charming illustrations by Maira Kalman. This is ostensibly a children's picture book, but will definitely appeal to grownups who enjoy plunging into whimsical fare. Loads of fun. Here's a funny promo on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VI1HZFrijeU. But the book is much better still, trust me.

I give it four stars for the art and the focus on one of my favorite things - cake! It's Maira Kalman's typical style; seemingly unrelated, sketchy images given relationship through their coloring and juxtaposition. I wonder if the story was written to the art or if the art was created for the story (the former seems most likely).

I think Kalman herself is the despondent bird, eating cake and painting ladders. The dog in the story looked suspicously Max-like, especially once he started trying on hats.

The story itself is sort of odd - I'm sure there's some porquoi tale of how this story came to be, lol. Why 13 words, why these 13 words? They certainly aren't any sort of controlled vocabulary and the words don't really have a common show more theme - in that sense it's not a "useful" children's book (cringe cringe) for learning to read or learning vocabulary. Well you know what I mean. It's kind of like a party game where you all pick a word out of a hat and somehow have to make a coherent story.

Interesting! Not the best, but still interesting. And the art is amazing. show less