A series of Unfortunate Events

By Lemony Snicket

I've had a wonderful holiday week with my boy. We've done some lovely things despite it raining non-stop for 5 days.
He's reading the Lemony Snicket books at school then, during the holidays we discovered the NetFlix series starring Neil Patrick Harris.
What a brilliant series. Although I have not yet read any of these books beyond "the bad beginning" my boy assures me this series plots very closely to the original books. Each book is covered through two episodes of the series.
It was great to see Rhys Darby in an episode or two. It's always nice to see a New Zealanders in such successful shows.
We watched 8 episodes, the first four books, and the first thing we did when we'd finished was check on iMDB to see if they were planning on televising the whole series… it looks promising.
(Update: It certainly is, the next 8 episodes are out on Netflicks now, and we are enjoying those too) 

Synopsis 

Dear Reader,
 I'm sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant. It tells an unhappy tale about three very unlucky children. Even though they are charming and clever, the Baudelaire siblings lead lives filled with misery and woe. From the very first page of this book when the children are at the beach and receive terrible news, continuing on through the entire story, disaster lurks at their heels. One might say they are magnets for misfortune.
 In this short book alone, the three youngsters encounter a greedy and repulsive villain, itchy clothing, a disastrous fire, a plot to steal their fortune, and cold porridge for breakfast. It is my sad duty to write down these unpleasant tales, but there is nothing stopping you from putting this book down at once and reading something happy, if you prefer that sort of thing.
With all due respect, Lemony Snicket

Novel Study

This is a literature guide to A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket. This novel unit would be great for use in a literature circle or novel study group. Activities contain higher level thinking reading comprehension questions, vocabulary, as well as extension activities. A complete answer key is included in page format, so pages with answers could be printed for students with IEPs.

Author 

Daniel Handler is an American writer, musician and journalist. He is best known for his work under the pen name Lemony Snicket, having published children's series A Series of Unfortunate Events and All the Wrong Questions under this pseudonym.

Other novels 

The Bad Beginning (1999) 

The Reptile Room (1999) 

The Wide Window (2000) 

The Miserable Mill (2000) 

The Austere Academy (2000) 

The Ersatz Elevator (2001) 

The Vile Village (2001) 

The Hostile Hospital (2001) 

The Carnivorous Carnival (2002) 

The Slippery Slope (2003) 

The Grim Grotto (2004) 

The Penultimate Peril (2005) 

The End (2006)