Category: Sneaky

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Ersatz Elevator (Book 6)

  • A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Ersatz Elevator (Book 6) by Lemony Snicket
  • Illustrated by: Brett Helquist
  • Number of Pages: 259
  • Cool Words: Ersatz, extreme, curious

There is nothing in this book, but misery. There is something mysterious about the Baudelaire’s new caretaker, Esme. She seems nice, but is she?

This book was not one of my favourites in the series. It was very slow. The adventure didn’t start until half way through. Still, I would recommend this book to Anneanne, because I think she will get surprised. I would also recommend it to people who want to read the rest of the series because Lemony Snicket usually links the books to the next one so that most of the next books beginning will mention the previous book.

I was a little bit disappointed, but I will keep reading the series.

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Austere Academy (Book 5)

  • A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Austere Academy by Lemony Snicket
  • Illustrated by: Brett Helquist
  • Number of Pages: 221
  • Cool Words: Austere

This book is about the three Baudelaire children who are made to go to a boarding school called Prufrock Prep. When they get there, they have to stay in the ‘orphans shack’ which is a really damp, dark and awful place. The academy is beautiful except for the orphans shack which is not even in the school grounds. There are two teachers that are nice, but the other teachers are really strict and mean. The Vice Principle, Nero, is a horrible person and reminded me a little bit of Trunchbull from Matilda.

Count Olaf is also there, as usual, but this time he is pretending to be the gym teacher Mr Ghengis. The children make a plan to escape with their friends, but they get caught and Nero expels the Baudelaire’s and makes their friends work in the cafeteria.

This was the best book in the series so far, because it was more suspenseful than any of the others. I knew that Count Olaf would appear, but I couldn’t guess who he was pretending to be until almost the end of the book. Because I couldn’t guess, I kept suspecting all the different teachers of being the Count which made the reading really fun!

I wouldn’t recommend this book to people who don’t like it when teachers are mean. Some of my classmates might find it a bit scary or upsetting. So maybe this book is for older kids, maybe 8 years and older.

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Miserable Mill (Book 4)

  • A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket
  • Illustrated by: Brett Helquist
  • Number of Pages: 221
  • Cool Words: Hypnotized, Scrawny, Advanced Ocular Science

In this book, the Baudelaire children stay in Paltryville with Foreman Flacutono. The foreman is not very nice, calls the children ‘orphans’ and forces them to work in the lumber mill. At least there is Charles, who is very kind to them.

The children work really hard and only get one packet of chewing gum for lunch, which was a bit upsetting, because I imagined how bad that would be if it happened to me. The Foreman also keeps tripping Klaus up so that he breaks his glasses. And once he does he has to go to the eye doctor, which is in a building that is shaped like Count Olaf’s symbol and has a doctor inside who hypnotises people. Count Olaf works in the building as ‘Shirley’ the receptionist which is really funny.

When I first started this book, I didn’t think it was the best in the series, but then it got better and better. It was just that in this book, the adventure started in the middle, so the beginning was a bit slow.

Like the other books in the series, it is best to read this after you’ve read the previous ones otherwise you wont find it as funny, because when Count Olaf appears for example, you wont know him from before. So I would recommend this book to people who like the previous books in A Series of Unfortunate Events.

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Wide Window (Book 3)

  • A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket
  • Illustrated by: Brett Helquist
  • Number of Pages: 214
  • Cool Words: staggered, tiller, valuable, unbearable

In book three of the series, Violet, Klaus and Sunny are sent to live with their aunt Josephine. She doesn’t turn on the stove or anything hot because she is afraid that the house may fall down into the lake where she lost Ike (her husband). So she only makes cold food, like cucumber soup which the kids hate!

This story is very creepy and is full of leeches! Count Olaf appears again and this time he is pretending to be Captain Sham and has a wooden leg (which is really funny!). The book was a little bit slower than the first two books, but I still really enjoyed it.

I would recommend this book to Mathew and Darcy and other people who read the first books. I’m not sure if you would really enjoy this without having read the first books.

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Reptile Room (Book 2)

  • A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket
  • Illustrated by: Brett Helquist
  • Number of Pages: 190
  • Cool Words: Blackmailing, Count Olaf, Stefano

The three Baudelaire children – Sunny, Violet and Klaus – have unfortunate events. In the book they go to stay with Uncle Monty and his snakes. Everything is okay until Stefano comes, because Stefano is Count Olaf in disguise!

I loved this book, because it was really really fun, even more than the first book in the series. I really liked the Incredibly Deadly Viper because it made the story exciting. I’m actually scared of snakes, because some snakes eat people, like boa constrictors. And my mommy almost fell into a pit of snakes in Africa. She was at the Temple of Pythons in Benin, but Daddy saved her.

I would recommend this book to my brother K, but when he is older, because he really likes snakes.

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning

  • A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
  • Number of Pages: 162
  • Cool Words: associated, murmured, trifled, Gorgonzola

This book is about three children named Violet, Klaus and Sunny. They have to look for a new home, so their parents’ friend Mr Poe stays with them for one day and then gives them to Count Olaf. But why are there so many eyes in Count Olaf’s house? And why is Count Olaf so spooky and nasty?

I thought this book was the best book I’ve read so far, because its really really fun to read. The things that are happening are actually bad, but the book is fun somehow. Like when Count Olaf sends Sunny up to the tower, Violet and Klaus just waited and didn’t do anything. They should have gone up and seen if she was uncomfortable, or stolen her away and left, but they didn’t do that. But because they didn’t do that, it became really mysterious and I wanted to know what was going to happen next.

Sunny is sent to the tower

Count Olaf is a funny character although he is a brat. He is always grumpy, but in a funny way. He is really tall, with a big nose and he is like a giant next to the kids.

Although I really liked this book, I think some of my friends might find it sad and cry at the sad bits. But when you read it you have to think that this is not real, it’s fiction and there is no need to get upset. Books that are real are non-fiction.

People who like mysteries will like the book. I think I would recommend it to 10 or 11 year olds and older, because it can be a bit dark.

ESIO TROT

  • Esio Trot, by Roald Dahl
  • Number of Pages: 57 
  • Cool Words: gobble, peering, tortoise, popped

I read this book in one night. It’s pretty long, but it was really exciting. Mrs Silver had a tortoise pet called Alfie. She was unhappy, because he wouldn’t grow. Mr Hoppy, her neighbour, wanted to make her happy so he took  Alfie and he replaced Alfie with another tortoise. (He got three-hundred-million-billion tortoises!) That went on and on, until Mrs Silver had a tortoise of the size that she wanted. Then Mr Hoppy put all the other tortoises back to the pet shop. 

I don’t think Mr Hoppy did the right thing. Its not nice to take somebody’s pet when they don’t know. If they know and its just a game, then its okay. But Mrs Silver didn’t know and she thought she was doing magic. The magic part was fun to read, because it was very tricky to read and I like reading tricky stuff. It was all backwards writing and Daddy helped me with it. 

The end of the story is pretty sad because Alfie has to go to Roberta. Roberta is nice, but why wouldn’t he want to be with his actual owner? His real, nice, kind owner? 

I would recommend this book to Zehra and Sophie M. because they really like animals.