title: The Wide Window (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 3)
author:  Lemony Snicket 
description: Grade 5-7-This is "Book the Third" in a series about the wealthy and clever but unfortunate Baudelaire children who were orphaned in a tragic fire. Pursued by the evil Count Olaf, who murdered their parents and their last caregiver, 14-year-old Violet, 12-year-old Klaus, and baby Sunny are sent to elderly Aunt Josephine, a strange, fearful widow and grammarian. She lives in a house built on precarious stilts on the side of a hill overlooking Lake Lachrymose, inhabited by killer leeches. Of course, Count Olaf tracks them down and, disguised as a sailboat captain, fools Aunt Josephine-at least for a while. Olaf is ultimately exposed but not before he pushes Aunt Josephine into the leech-infested waters. So, the Baudelaires must find a new caregiver, who will be revealed to readers in "Book the Fourth." The writing is tongue-in-cheek John Bellairs, E. Nesbit, or Edward Eager with a little Norton Juster thrown in. The style is similar to the many books with old houses and rocky shores in Maine or Great Britain including the Edward Goreyesque illustrations. Unfortunately, the book misses the mark. The narrator is humorous but intrusive, explaining words and providing many obvious clues that surface later. Aunt Josephine's constant correction of vocabulary and grammar, while at first humorous, becomes annoying. The book is really not bad; it just tries too hard and there are so many similar books that are much better.<br /><i>Marlene Gawron, Orange County Library, Orlando, FL </i><br />Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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  # A Series of Unfortunate Events 3- The Wide Window
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ASeriesofUnfortunateEvents
  
  
  
  
  
  A Series of Unfortunate Events
  
  
  Book the Third
  
  
  The Wide Window
  
  
  Lemony Snicket
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  For Beatrice-
  
  
  I would much prefer it if you were alive and well.
  
  
  
  
  
  C H A P T E R
  
  
  One
  
  
  
  
  
  If you
  
  
  
  
  
  didn't know much about the Baudelaire orphans, and you saw them sitting on
  their suitcases at Damocles Dock, you might think that they were bound for an
  exciting adventure. After all, the three children had just disembarked from
  the Fickle Ferry, which had driven them across Lake
  
  
  Lachrymose to live with their Aunt Josephine, and in most cases such a
  situation would lead to thrillingly good times.
  
  
  But of course you would be dead wrong. For although Violet, Klaus, and Sunny
  Baudelaire were about to experience events that would be both exciting and
  memorable, they would not be exciting and memorable like having your fortune
  told or going to a rodeo. Their adventure would be exciting and me