Snow Day

by Lynn Plourde, Hideko Takahashi (Illustrator)

This fun-filled picture book captures the many joyful experiences and adventures shared by small children on a beautiful snowy day.

Genres: Picture Books, Fiction, Childrens, Family, Realistic Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

I write kids' books--talk about a FUN job! I worked for 21 years as a speech-language therapist in Maine schools. When I got married, I got 3 & 4-year-old stepsons as part of my ready-made family. I read the boys picture books at bedtime. They fell asleep after 2 or 3 books, but I kept reading stacks and stacks of picture books and started to dream . . . maybe I could write picture books. I was already writing educational books (listening & speaking ideas for the classroom), but PICTURE BOOKS--that was different!

Different, and sloooooow! I had 13 years of rejections before getting my first book published, Pigs in the Mud in the Middle of the Rud, and I still get more rejections than acceptances--even after having more than 40 books published. So I'm still an author-in-training--learning to be a better author all the time.

I LOVE writing, the whole creative process. I also LOVE sharing my books with kids at schools: doing interactive readings, turning one of my books into a play, and teaching students how to plan and write different kinds of stories (i.e. problem stories, character stories, graphic novel scenes, fables) modeled after my books.

I love to try new kinds of writing such as poetic stories, a biography, a graphic novel, and more. Writing new kinds of stories is a challenge, but it makes writing fun and keeps me interested in the process.

Reviews

[Andria Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a little girl and how she spends a snow day with her family

I really like this book. The words and story are simple while still teaching about winter and the concept of snow days. I like how it talks about the different activities she does with her family on the snow day. I think kids will enjoy it because they will be able to relate to it and it will lead to discussions about what they do on their snow days.

(Picture Book)

[Devynn Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like this author but I think her other books are much better. This one had great illustrations but I think it was just missing something.

[Sandie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not love this book. I found it annoying. The illustrations were ok. My son loved this one!

[Jude · Rating 2 out of 5]

These are the parents of the year. Are they teachers or did they take personal time to spend the snow day with their children?

[Mallory · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plourde brings the sights and sounds of a snow day at home with your family alive in this beautiful picture book.

[Elise Syphers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. It was a fun read

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute! My three year olds liked it a lot.

[TJE · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent. Rhymes but everything about this book is ordinary.

[Abigail Ortiz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so cute to read when reading this book it reminded me of when I was little and I was always so excited for a snow day, just the way it was written made it so fun to read.

[Ashton McWhirter · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a realistic fiction book. It won the Los Angeles Times Best Children's Book in 2002.

"Snow Day" takes its reader through your traditional snow day through the eyes of a child. From snowmen, to hot chocolate, to family time by the fire, this book took me right back to my elementary school days, and the excitement that went with waking up to snow on the ground.

Though I did not enjoy this book much, and do not expect to use it in my classroom, if I did use it as a read aloud, I would ask students questions about their own families, and what they may do on a snow day. For example, I would probably tell them about how my dad always got me to gather up snow and make snow cream on snow days, and I would ask if they have any fun memories or traditions of their own.

This book was sweet, and easy to relate to snow days had as a child. I did not love the structure in which is was written, because the design made me expect to find flowing rhymes and even rhythms and patterns. However, I think this would be a good book to introduce and teach onomatopoeia and alliterations.

[Katie Williams]

Tons of adjectives in this book that students can learn. This is a good book to read when teaching adjectives, what they are and how to use them in a sentence or when writing. The teacher could read this book during the winter after the first snow or around Christmas time so students have a better connection to the story. As a follow up, students can write about a snow day they've experienced (or have recently experienced if there have been any snow days) using as many descriptive words as they can. I would say teachers can challenge their students to develop different writing styles with this as well; should they write it in the form of a narrative, a story, informational piece? Let them decide or assign one.

[Melanie, Aaron, Annie, and Mary Project · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read by: Melanie
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Author: Lynn Plourde Illustrator: Hideko Takahashi
Interest Level: K-2
Grade Level Equivalent: 2.1
DRA: N/A
Lexile: 80 L

Snow days are a day all kids look forward to because of all the fun things you get to do. Warm oatmeal breakfast, couch cuddling, fireplace huddling and game playing are some of the fun things described in this book to do on a snow day. Playing outside getting cold and coming in to warm up at the end of the night with your family is also something to look forward to. Simple story that can help students with their reading skills and practice.

[Tori · Rating 2 out of 5]

Snow day was simply about what two children do on a snow day. It is an easy read and the author does a good job of using adjectives to describe all the different things that the children do together. I liked how the story was written; it was simple yet interesting and different from most stories. The story line is boring, but overall the book has good pictures and would be a good book to read during the winter to children.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice little story told almost in poetic verse about a snow day. The little boy accomplishes a lot on this day. The author does a good job of describing the scenes with visual adjectives. Will be a good mentor text to use when we learn about adjectives in a few weeks.

Not a great story, but solid.

[Relyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this book because I love Wild Child by the same author. This one was very disappointing. Of course I was expecting the rich language and beautiful descriptions of Wild Child, but this is a book for much younger children.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. This book can definitely be read after winter weather closes school. The text are very descriptive and crests a good visual for the reader. The illustrations show exactly what the text is saying.

[Jennifer Kelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book to use for storytime for my preschoolers. I found that I didn't enjoy reading the book aloud, and the kid's didn't seem to enjoy it. But, then I decided to do a "picture walk" and we talked about the pictures--this was much better received!

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book by a Maine author. Younger kids will easily be able to follow the story. Good resource for parents looking for ideas for activities on those days when school is cancelled.

[Trisan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great pictures

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for sharing one on one. E. stayed really focussed throughout and we connected with various snow day activities. What a super fun day these kids have!

[Lizzie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lots of winter vocab (especially adjectives)

[X · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute book.

[Miss Janis the Storytime Lady · Rating 3 out of 5]

okay.