There is nothing to be found in the pages of A Series of Unfortunate Events but misery and despair. You still have time to choose another international best-seller to read. But if you must know what unpleasantries befall the charming and clever Baudelaire children read on . . . In The Wide Window we encounter a story that includes a hurricane, a signalling device, hungry leaches, cold cucumber soup, a horrible villain and a doll named Pretty Penny. With 5 million copies sold in the UK alone, one might consider Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events to make him one of the most successful children’s authors of the past decade. We, however, consider these miserable so-called adventure stories and the Hollywood film starring Jim Carrey that accompanied the books for children as nothing more than a dreadful mistake.

Martyrs to hypochondria and general seediness, J and his friends George and Harris decide that a jaunt up the Thames would suit them to a T. They can predict the troubles that lie ahead with tow-ropes, unreliable weather-forecasts and tins of pineapple chunks – not to mention the devastation left in the wake of J’s small fox-terrier Montmorency.

Jack, Milo, Robin, and Big Rock are back, and they have a new friend with them too—Blaze, the magical phoenix. As usual, the gang is low on money, so they plan to come together as a family and make some cash by taking on notorious bully Buster Gutt. Unfortunately, Buster is even meaner than they thought. In the second story, villainous Lord Veto tries to break up the Waldo’s Wrestling Trolls family. He plants seeds of doubt in Jack, which sets Milo off, and soon Princess Ava is caught in the middle of two very grumpy boys.

Ben Tennyson, a 10-year-old kid who proves that anyone can be a hero! Dr Amino is creating mutant creatures to take over Washington DC and there is only one person who can save the city.