Snow Day (Ready-to-Read. Level 1) [Paperback]

Margaret McNamara (Author), Mike Gordon (Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Ready-to-Read. Level 1

The kids in Mrs. Connor's class love the snow! And they love snow days even more! But when the snow will not stop falling, Nia realizes that staying at home is not so much fun after all.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 2—This solid addition to the series features a party at Jamie's house where "All the first graders came." Multicultural classmates are dressed in ghost, robot, and elevator costumes and have mixed responses to the Haunted House with a spider web, plastic spider, and bowl full of "goopy worms…in Jell-O." The simple text and familiar theme supports emerging readers and rewards them with a satisfying plot twist and surprise. Gordon's vibrantly colored illustrations give plenty of visual clues for decoding the text and treats of wonderful costumes and party decorations, and add suspense with background shading. Beginning readers will also enjoy Paulette Bourgeois' Franklin's Pumpkin (Kids Can, 2005), Lisa Thiesing's A Dark and Noisy Night (Dutton, 2005), and Hans Wilhelm's I'm Not Scared! (Scholastic, 2005).—Laura Scott, Farmington Community Library, MI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Margaret McNamara is a writer and an editor who has spent many years working in children's publishing. She is the author of all the books in the Robin Hill School series, and gets many of her ideas from her own daughter's experiences at school. Margaret McNamara lives with her family in New York City, though she likes to spend as much of the summer as she can in Maine.

Mike Gordon has illustrated all of the Robin Hill School books, but his work covers a truly wide range, extending from educational and non-fiction books to entertainment and fiction. Mike's illustration now includes both design and illustration for major publishers such as Harper Collins, Headline, Ladybird, Longman, Penguin, Random Century, Reed International, Simon & Schuster, Walker Books, Western Publishing and Wayland. The international publication of many of the titles illustrated by Mike means his work is seen in over eighteen countries. In addition, Mike has produced more than 400 humorous greeting card designs for clients such as Hallmark, as well as the major UK companies, Hanson White and Gordon Fraser. He lives with his family in Santa Barbara, California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Simon Spotlight; Original edition (October 23, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416934936
• ISBN-13: 978-1416934936
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #318,754 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Margaret McNamara is the pen-name for a children's book editor and literary agent. She is the author of more than two dozen books for young readers. Many of the ideas for her books, especially the Robin Hill School titles, come from her daughter's school days, or her own. Margaret and her family live in New York City, and spend as much time as they can during the summer in Maine.

The author says, "I chose the name 'Margaret McNamara' because it was my maternal grandmother's name. The real Margaret McNamara grew up a very long time ago in County Clare in Ireland, and was the only one in her village who could read."

Author Margaret McNamara is now at work on a book about George Washington's seventh birthday, and another book about the characters in "How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin," who this time solve a riddle. You can find out more about Margaret at her website, www.margaretmcnamara.net, which will be coming soon.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Love These Kids!, April 16, 2011

By 

Carole Peery (Edmond, OK, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Snow Day (Ready-to-Read. Level 1) (Paperback)

I teach first grade. My kids and I love all the Robin Hill School characters. They are age appropriate and have developed strong readers in my classroom.

5.0 out of 5 stars Appealing story and fun illustrations, April 13, 2010

By 

Z Hayes (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Snow Day (Ready-to-Read. Level 1) (Paperback)

I feel that the "Robin Hill School" Ready-to-read books are somewhat advanced despite being categorized as Level 1 books. According to the description at the back of the book, Level 1 is "starting to read - simple stories, increased vocabulary, and longer sentences". Well, my 5-year-old is reading and can manage other readers at level 1 such as Barron's First Book series, e.g. A Mop for Pop (Get Ready Get Set Read) and also the Step Into Reading Ready to Read series, e.g. The Snowball (Step-Into-Reading, Step 1). She could not however read all of the Robin Hill School books fluently and independently (compared to the other readers I listed), though she managed this particular title quite well. I personally found some of the other titles in the series to be more advanced than other early readers categorized as Level 1 (sentences are much longer and the vocabulary used is also a bit more advanced). This is what confuses parents (as attested to by some of my friends) - some early readers appear to be too easy and some too difficult though they are labeled under the same level. However, I do understand that children also progress at different paces in reading.

Anyway, the stories in the Robin Hill School series are actually quite engaging and interesting. This particular story focuses on a little girl Nia who wishes she can have a snow day and the fun she has when it happens. I do like the series (we checked the entire set out from our local library) as the stories are engaging and visually appealing. I plan to reintroduce these books to my daughter in a couple of months as she builds her vocabulary and reading skills.