“Lump of Coal” by Lemony Snicket

This skinny little picture book is sheer delight, and very typical of the Lemony Snicket dark humor. “Lump of Coal” wants to be an artist, but he is shunned by the arts community. He would settle for cooking a meal (yes, that’s slightly perverse) but is equally rejected by the proprietor of a faux Korean barbeque. In the end, Santa helps him out and everything develops as you might expect. I’m hoping to add this one to my read-alouds in the future – both kids and adults will “get it”.