The Lump of Coal

here is a thank you note (pretend it's handwritten because things seem more thoughtful that way): dear lemony snicket, thank you for not only saving my life (and my reading challenge) by writing and publishing one of the smallest books i have ever seen, but for making that book way better than it had......more

AND NOW IS THE TIME OF YEAR I FLOAT OLD CHRISTMAS REVIEWS TO COUNTDOWN TO BING BONG BING BONG!! this was a nice little holiday book about a piece of coal in a tuxedo. come to my blog!......more

Like his mentor Edward Gorey, Lemony Snicket knows how to make fun of nice cultural occasions like Christmas. He takes the idea of the "lump of coal" gift for bad children and just goes goofy on it. He takes a sappy moral like "miracles are everywhere" and makes it both silly and meaningful in his o......more

This is a book half the size of normal picture books. The book itself is cute. I saw this and I wanted to see what it was about. I thought it could be interesting. I was rather disappointed, I must say. The coal was alive and looking for miracles. It wanted to be an artist and help cook some chicken......more

Lemony Snicket rules and all but mostly I like the crotchety little lump stomping around in his little tuxedo, glaring at everybody. Glare glare glare.......more