Clearly inspired by both Roald Dahl and Lemony Snicket, veteran author Lois Lowry has her tongue so firmly planted in her cheek here that it seems to have obscured her vision of what made their work so successful. While deaths and other horrible events may have swirled around them, both Dahl's and Snicket's heroes and heroines (Charlie, James, the Baudelaire children) were always lovable and engaged the reader's affection. Tim Willoughby, on the other hand, though described by the author as bossy but with a heart of gold, is nothing but a tin-pot dictator, self-aggrandizing and awful to his siblings, who are timid followers.

Though Dahl may have appeared subversive, his books actually promoted the most traditional of values. Even Matilda's horrible parents in the end do the right thing and leave her with someone who will understand her better than they. Here the moral seems to be: if you don't like your parents, you can get rid of them and be adopted by a nice rich man. There's no doubt that many kids will find this delightfully hilarious, and there's no harm in it. But some adults may find it leaves a bad taste that's hard to shake.