The Bad Beginning Review

This is the first of a wonderful series of books about three orphans who seem doomed to live forever with a series of inept and unsuitable guardians.  It might seem as though this setting would not be appropriate for humor but the colorful characters, unusual settings, and clever plot twists make these books enjoyable for children and great "light reading" for adults.  The three orphans each have unique talents--Violet is an inventor, Klaus is an avid reader who remembers everything that he reads, and Sunny has very strong teeth that she uses to bite things.  Each of these talents helps the children to get out of a number of sticky situations with hilarious results.  The villain of the story, Count Olaf, attempts to gain guardianship of the children in order to gain access to a tremendous fortune that was left to the children by their parents, who perished in a house fire.  He is assisted in this by a number of thugs including, but not limited to, the hook-handed man, the powder-faced ladies, and a strange character that is half man, half woman.  All of this is overseen by a well-meaning, though misguided, banker who is responsible for the welfare, and the fortune, of the children.  This is not thought-provoking, life-changing literature, but it is clever and entertaining.  A great way to get children to read!