The Lump Of Coal is a small hardcover, Christmas-themed book for young readers, by Lemony Snicket. It is marvellously illustrated by Brett Helquist. The Lump of Coal (dressed in his black suit, white shirt and black bow-tie) has dreams of becoming an artist (like many people who dress in black). Or perhaps making his mark on a breast of chicken or a salmon fillet. He is accidentally liberated from a sack of charcoal, and goes looking for a miracle that might facilitate his dreams. He ends up in a disobedient someone’s Christmas stocking. And, surprisingly, that turns out to be a good thing. As with his Series of Unfortunate Events books, Snicket (aka Daniel Handler) is deprecating about the worth of the work. He also provides clever, often amusing, meanings for words he uses, a tactic for adding humour that anyone who is familiar with ASOFU will recognise. Quite delightful!