I was not a fan of this book at first and then I started seeing all the connections through the pictures and the words. There were thirteen words that were focused on in this story and as each word was presented it was tied back to the previous words that had been talked about. This would be a great story to teach vocabulary. The book does a great job showing and telling what each words means. The pages were vibrant and active and depicted the essences of the word being talked about. If the author wouldn’t have done such a good job at defining the words then some words in this book would have been too advanced for the age group it was targeted it towards. Such as, haberdashery, a child is most likely not going to know what this word means, but the author does a good job at continuing the story while still defining the word in terms that a child will understand, “a haberdashery is a store where you might find a good hat”. The child now knows that a haberdashery is a hat store! This book is bright and colorful. The author, Lemony Snicket, seems to love words and life. I enjoy the way that he defines panache as "a kind of verve or swagger." I would recommend this book to precocious 6-year-olds who are in love with language and can appreciate the funny sound of the word "haberdashery." It kind of reminds me of the popular Fancy Nancy books, because they both use words that are derived from Romance languages, like "panache" and "mezzo-soprano." This book reminds me that language can be fun.
Very Snicket. Teaches kids big words and ends on a slightly depressive note. I'm a fan.
—sacf49
This was a cute little children's book. Definitely plan to read it to my children.
—kaddy
After reading this with the kids, my son said: "That is a very odd book."
—loveeeayannnaa
Hmm, it didn't have quite the Lemony Snicket flair I was hoping for
—whylime
the bird was still a little despondent
—wdoner
