A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning

While this book is almost twenty years old now, it and the rest of the series are still popular among children, young adults, and people of all ages. The upcoming Netflix miniseries based on the books has brought back a lot of nostalgic readers who enjoyed the books as children (including myself). So I think there is also a great opportunity to use this Netflix series as a way to introduce new readers to the books, too.

The Bad Beginning is the first book in the Series of Unfortunate Events and it gives us an introduction to the sad and bleak world of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire. The children are orphans who just recently lost their parents and have been placed in the care of Count Olaf, the main villain throught the book series. The story is mysterious, with the children investigating Olaf in secret as he plots to steal their family's fortunes while also mistreating the children. In the end, the children almost manage to have Olaf arrested for his crimes, but he manages to escape (a common occurence through the books).

But despite the sadness and despair that the children experience they also have a lot of love and support coming from one another. Throughout all the bad things they experience in this book (and the others) they are always there for each other. This can be important for children who read it and are experincing their own "bad beginnings", so to speak. They can relate to the Baudelaire children and be comforted by how how they never give up and are always there for one another. Children who are interested in more mysterious and darker stories will probably also connect with the book, as it's very different from the typical happy ending children's novel.

As for use in the classroom, The Bad Beginning offers lots of opportunities to teach children about tools used in writing. One of the biggest is probably the use of foreshadowing. There are many hints throughout this book and the others about what's to come for the Baudelaire children. The most obvious one is the illustration at the end, which features a snake wrapped around a lightpole that hints at the second book in the series (The Reptile Room). By discussing these hints with students you could teach them how to read critically and look for other clues in the text that they might have missed.

For further reading I would definitely suggest the remainder of the Series of Unfortunate Events books, as they need to be read in full in order to get answers about what happens to the children (although there is still some mystery left at the end). Having a viewing party for the new Netflix series might be a good idea of an activity to do with the children, if it's possible. It would give them the chance to connect what they read with something visual. Another activity would be to have the students come up with their own clues or mysteries through a writing assignment. The Bad Beginning could inspire them and show them how to write creatively in multiple ways.