The Snowball (Step-Into-Reading, Step 1)
Gr. 1, younger for reading aloud. "I saw a snowball on a hill. / It rolled along and picked up Bill." As it rolls, it picks up a few more children, too, including the one who's telling the story. Okay, it might notsoundfunny, but with Pidgeon's pictures contrasting the idyllic, winter-wonderland contentment of anyone in the snowball's path with their astonishment, perplexity, or rage seconds later, this book would work even without the words. With the rhyming text, though, kids have the satisfaction of a story that's predictable in the best sense. When words still look like a foreign code, it's mighty reassuring to know what's coming and be in on the joke. This is one beginning reader that children will want to reread and even show their friends.Carolyn Phelan