THE WIDE WINDOW is the fourth book in Snicket's popular series, A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS. The books are an interesting mix of Gothic suspense and desolation, didactic lessons, and the age-old conflict between good and evil. Following his formula, Snicket sends the three erudite children to their next guardian, an aunt who's afraid of everything. Enter Count Olaf in a new disguise, and once again we watch the children attempt to evade his clutches. Snicket's narration is surprisingly good; his narrator voice has just the right neutral tone, rising and falling in pitch with each plot twist. However, while he gives the characters recognizable voices, there are lapses, leaving the listener confused as to the speaker. The music, though appropriate, is more discordant than enhancing. Adults can usually handle only one of these titles, but students love them, and they engender lively classroom discussions.
Ages 8+Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2001
Duration: 3 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Liam Aiken narrates this prequel to the Series of Unfortunate Events in a somber, deadpan tone that heightens its dark humor. As a teenaged Lemony Snicket investigates a series of arsons in a town called Stain’d-by-the-Sea, Aiken creates voices that delineate character and help keep clear the large cast of Snicket’s associates, enemies, and enemies that turn out to be associates. Aiken’s tone of quiet urgency will keep listeners hooked through wordplay, mysteries, good meals, romance, and the appearance of a new villain named Hangfire, who hoodwinks adults, frames a librarian, and kidnaps all the children in town. This smart and funny listen will please Snicket fans and create new ones.
(Mystery. 8-14)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2014
Duration: 6 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781478955733
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
While narrator Liam Aiken evokes the wistful, dolorous tone of Snicket’s second mystery in his All the Wrong Questions series, he fails to deliver Snicket’s signature snark with appropriate vigor. In this episode, the main character, 12-year-old Lemony Snicket, continues the investigations that began in STAIN’D BY THE SEA with the case of the missing chemist, Cleo Knight. As Aiken delivers Snicket’s declarative sentences in a deadpan voice, his remote reading keeps listeners distant from the story. Furthermore, Aiken does not always play up the quirks of the town’s eccentric characters. When he does use individualized voicings, the story shakes off its languidness to some degree. Aiken’s melancholy narration echoes Snicket’s loneliness but doesn’t enliven the recording for young listeners. An attached PDF file includes the character Seth’s illustrations.
(Mystery. 8-14)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2013
Duration: 4 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781478924845
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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