The library created an afternoon of activities based on a popular children’s lit series.
By: Sharlee DiMenichi
The gathering wouldn’t have been complete without eyeball snacks, celery soda and cold mashed potatoes.
Children’s librarians at the South Brunswick library combined these key ingredients with activities such as a disguise relay and a coughing contest to create an Unfortunate Afternoon.
The event drew on the popular children’s book series, "A Series of Unfortunate Events" by Daniel Handler, who writes under the pen name Lemony Snicket. The 10-book series details the many misfortunes of the Baudelaire orphans, who bounce from guardian to guardian seeking refuge from a villain who wants to steal their family fortune.
One of the teen volunteers who was on hand to assist with the library event said she considered the series superior to other books for young people.
"It’s more adventurous at times, … and you can get a better picture," said Rebecca Barringer, 13, a library volunteer, as she poured celery-flavored soda at the snack table.
About 70 children in late elementary and early middle school rotated among stations at which they honed their problem-solving and language skills through activities which focused on the special strength of each orphan and re-created unfortunate situations featured in the books, which include Mr. Snicket as both author and character. The children, who appeared engrossed for the entire two-hour program, imitated Violet Baudelaire, the inventor, by designing pipe-cleaner contraptions to extract Mr. Snicket’s papers from a fire made of twigs and Christmas tree lights. They emulated her brother, Klaus, the researcher, by using encyclopedias to solve a puzzle that would help them guess the whereabouts of the elusive Mr. Snicket.
Blindfolded participants also stood in line to pin paper teeth on a drawing of Sunny Baudelaire, the baby, who is noted for her ability to bite through whatever stands in the orphans’ way.
All of the sets of Unfortunate Events books are almost always checked out, said children’s librarian Kathleen Gruver, who dressed as Madame Lulu from "Carnivorous Carnival," the ninth book in the series. Ms. Gruver said children find the books empowering because they present exceptionally capable young people who have no parents to rely on, yet manage to outwit the adults around them.
Independent child characters appeal to readers 10 to 13 years old, who are beginning to develop their own individual tastes, said Jill Ratzan, program coordinator for the event.
"This is the age at which children start to make their own decisions and have their own tastes independently of their parents and their friends," said Ms. Ratzan.
Ms. Gruver said the books also demonstrate the author’s respect for young readers’ intelligence.
"They do not talk down to children. The vocabulary level in these books is incredible," said Ms. Gruver.
Unlike much contemporary children’s literature, the books do not avoid dealing with upsetting topics, such as death and betrayal.
"Unlike books most people prefer, which provide comforting and entertaining tales about charming people and talking animals, the tale you are reading now is nothing but distressing and unnerving, and the people unfortunate enough to be in the story are far more desperate and frantic than charming, and I would prefer to not speak about the animals at all," Mr. Snicket writes in the beginning of the 10th book, "The Slippery Slope."
Ms. Ratzan said tackling the difficult aspects of life in a fictional context can prepare readers for the emotional upheaval life inevitably entails.
Ms. Gruver said the books’ focus on the disturbing aspects of life draws on longstanding traditions in writings for young people.
In early versions of the tale "Sleeping Beauty," for instance, the young woman is raped while comatose. Even the modern retelling of "Snow White" contains an attempted murder.
"Classic children’s literature has not always been sort of sweet and sugar-plummy," Ms. Gruver said.
Far from being bothered by the books’ upsetting subject matter, the children at the Unfortunate Events shindig said they enjoyed it.
"They never end happily so it makes you want to read more," said Rosie Cosgrave, 10, of South Brunswick, one of the students who attended the event.
Ms. Ratzan said children appreciate literature that acknowledges their growing ability to recognize that life contains negative as well as positive aspects.
"The idea is that the real world does not have happy endings all the time," she said.
For information on children’s events at the library, call (732) 329-4000 ext. 5.