Snow Day (Robin Hill School)
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'sA Dark and Noisy Night(Dutton, 2005), and Hans Wilhelm'sI'm Not Scared!(Scholastic, 2005).—Laura Scott, Farmington Community Library, MICopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.