Lemony Snicket Christmas Books

It does seem odd putting “Lemony Snicket” and “Christmas Books” together in a title.

Snicket is best known for his children’s book series A Series of Unfortunate Events – books which I tried reading.  However, I could not enjoy them because they were so depressing.

So what inspired me to pick up Lemony Snicket’s Christmas books?  A couple of things.  First, the titles: The Latke Who Couldn’t Stop Screaming and The Lump of Coal.  Who could pass those up?  And second, the fact that they are short, stand-alone books.  Picture books really, but on a smaller scale.  So if I didn’t like them, I hadn’t invested much time.

I will whole-heartedly admit to enjoying both of them.  So much, in fact, that I laughed out loud several times.  My children nearly grabbed them out of my hands, they were so anxious find out what was making me laugh.

In both books, Snicket cleverly weaves together both Christmas and Hanukkah – although more so in The Latke than in The Lump of Coal – while at the same time clarifying the differences between the two holidays.  Of course, the stories are ironic, and funny.

Highly recommended for ages 7 and up.