Karen's Snow Day

  For Doug, a.k.a. my brudda

  Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  1 I Love Snow

  2 Listening to the Radio

  3 All About Snow

  4 The Perfect Snow Day

  5 It’s a Deal!

  6 Show and Share

  7 An Invitation for Ms. Colman

  8 Karen’s Calendar

  9 Working Hard

  10 Big News

  11 Big Storm

  12 Leaving School

  13 Karen’s Snow Day

  14 The Thomas Brothers and the Three Musketeers

  15 The Snowman

  16 The Picnic in the Living Room

  17 A Bad End to a Bad Day

  18 Surprise!

  19 Angels and Ice Skates

  20 Ms. Colman’s Wonderful News

  About the Author

  Also Available

  Copyright

  I Love Snow

  “Where is The Snowy Day? I want you to read The Snowy Day,” said Andrew. Andrew is my little brother. He is four going on five.

  “Me, too,” said Emily Michelle. Emily is my little sister. She is not even three yet. I think “Me, too” are her favorite words.

  “Why do you want me to read that book?” I asked. “We do not have any snow. Not one flake.”

  “I bet we will have some soon,” said Andrew. “It feels like snow.”

  This was true. It was a very wintry Saturday. I was at the big house with Daddy’s family, and a fire was blazing in the fireplace. Outside, the sky was gray and the air was icy. It looked like snow, it felt like snow, it even smelled like snow. But Dr. G. the weatherman had not said a word about snow. He had said, “Today will be overcast and chilly, with temperatures in the twenties.” That was all. No fair. We are supposed to have snow in the winter. At least we are supposed to have snow here in Stoneybrook, Connecticut.

  “Pul-lease will you read to us?” begged Andrew.

  “You can read by yourself now,” I reminded Andrew. (I knew that for a fact. I taught Andrew myself.)

  “But I want you to read.”

  “I have an idea,” said Kristy. “Let’s have a reading party. We will have it by the fire. We will be nice and cozy.”

  “What is a reading party?” I asked. Kristy is my big sister. She is thirteen. She babysits. And she knows almost everything.

  “A reading party is …” Kristy paused. I had a feeling she had just made up reading parties this very minute. “It is when everyone gets his favorite book and we all read to each other. If you cannot read, then you just listen.”

  Well, that sounded like fun. “Who shall we invite?” I asked.

  “The whole family,” said Kristy.

  At Daddy’s house, that is a lot of people. Soon ten of us were sitting in the living room: Andrew, Emily, Kristy, and me, plus Daddy, Elizabeth, Nannie, Sam, Charlie, and David Michael. Elizabeth is Daddy’s wife. She is my stepmother. Kristy, Sam, Charlie, and David Michael are her kids, so they are my stepsister and stepbrothers. (David Michael is seven like me, but the other boys are older. They are in high school.) Nannie is Elizabeth’s mother. This makes her my stepgrandmother. Guess who else came to the reading party. Shannon and Boo-Boo. Shannon is David Michael’s puppy. Boo-Boo is a fat old tomcat.

  Of course, Andrew brought The Snowy Day. Do you know what? He could not read all of it by himself after all. He needed some help. But he read a lot of it.

  While he read, I thought about snow. I love snow. I love everything about snow. I love watching it and making angels in it and making snowpeople with it.

  I was hoping for a snow day. If school closed and I could spend an entire day in the snow, I would be so gigundoly happy!

  I was not the only person hoping for snow. Sam and Charlie wanted it, too. They had just bought a used snowblower.

  “What for?” asked Andrew.

  “To earn money. We can clear people’s sidewalks and driveways with it. If we ever get any snow,” Sam answered.

  At the reading party I read some poems from Now We Are Six. When I finished, I looked out the window. “I wish it would snow,” I said.

  “Me, too,” said Emily Michelle.

  Listening to the Radio

  The next day, Sunday, Andrew and I went back to Mommy’s house. We got there just in time for dinner. Andrew and I are used to going back and forth between Mommy’s house and Daddy’s house. We do it pretty often. See, we have two homes.

  I am the only person in my second-grade class who lives at two houses. I have two houses and two families, and I call myself Karen Two-Two. This is how I became a two-two.

  When I was very little, even younger than Andrew, I lived in one house with one family — Mommy, Daddy, Andrew, and me. We lived in the big house where Daddy had grown up. Then Mommy and Daddy began to fight. Not just a little. They fought a lot. They said they loved Andrew and me very much, but they did not love each other anymore. And they could not live together. So Mommy moved to another house, a little house. Andrew and I went with her. Then a very surprising thing happened. Mommy and Daddy got married again — but not to each other. Mommy married Seth, and Daddy married Elizabeth. That is how I got my two families.

  The little-house family is Mommy and Seth and Andrew and me. Seth is my stepfather. When he moved into our house he brought along his cat and dog. The cat is Rocky and the dog is Midgie. I like Rocky and Midgie very much, except for their names. I think I would have given them prettier names. Guess what. I have a pet of my own at Mommy’s. I have a rat. Her name is Emily Junior. (I named her after Emily Michelle.)

  Andrew and I spend most of our time at the little house. But every other weekend and on some holidays and vacations, we live with Daddy at the big house. Isn’t it lucky the big house is so big? After Elizabeth married Daddy, she moved in with Kristy and Sam and Charlie and David Michael. Then Daddy and Elizabeth adopted Emily Michelle. Emily comes from a country called Vietnam. And then Nannie moved in to help take care of Emily. When Andrew and I are at Daddy’s house, ten people live there. Plus Shannon and Boo-Boo. Oh, and plus Goldfishie and Crystal Light the Second. They are goldfish. They belong to Andrew and me. I named Crystal Light. Isn’t that name prettier than Rocky or Midgie?

  One day in school, my teacher began to read a book to our class. It was called Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang. That was when I got the idea to call myself Karen Two-Two. And to call my brother Andrew Two-Two. We have two of so many things. We have our two houses and two families. We also have two mommies and two daddies, two cats and two dogs. I have two pieces of Tickly, my special blanket. I keep one piece at each house. I have two stuffed cats who look just the same. Moosie stays at the big house, Goosie stays at the little house. I even have two best friends. Hannie Papadakis lives across the street from Daddy and one house down. Nancy Dawes lives next door to Mommy. She is gigundoly lucky because she has a brand-new baby brother. Hannie and Nancy and I are all in Ms. Colman’s second-grade class at Stoneybrook Academy. We call ourselves the Three Musketeers.

  The night Andrew and I went back to the little house, I decided I better listen to the radio. I wanted some snow to fall. I wanted a snow day when school was closed. Guess what Dr. G. said. He said, “Chance of a light snowfall tonight.”

  All right! Snow was coming!

  All About Snow

  On Monday morning when my alarm clock rang, I sat up in bed right away. I wanted to see the snow. I pulled my window shade down, then let it snap up. I peered outside. The ground was white. Dr. G. had been right.

  “Snow day! Snow day!” I yelled.

  “Karen?” called Mommy from her room. “Are you all right?”

  “It snowed!” I shouted. “No school!”

 
; Mommy came into my room. She looked out the window. “It did snow,” she agreed. “But not enough to close school, Karen. Look, the street is only wet. And I think the sun will be out soon.”

  “But the ground is white,” I said. “I better listen to the radio.” I turned on my pink sound box. The sound box is very cool. It is a radio and a tape player. Plus, it has a microphone so I can pretend I am a singer on the stage. Usually, I also pretend I have a large audience.

  I climbed into bed to listen to the weather report.

  “Karen, you need to get dressed,” said Mommy. “I promise you will have school. Today is not going to be a snow day.”

  I did not want to get dressed, but I did it anyway. Also, I listened to the radio. Just in case. Mommy is not always right.

  I waited for Dr. G. to say, “Stoneybrook Academy is closed.” But he did not. He did not say any schools were closed. (Okay, Mommy was right again.)

  “Karen, are you dressed?” called Mommy.

  “Yes!” I replied.

  I made my family listen to the radio during breakfast. Still, no schools were closed. Finally Seth said, “Time to go, Karen.” He meant time to go to school. I did not mind. I like school.

  Nancy and I rode to school together. Seth drove us. When we reached Stoneybrook Academy we ran to Ms. Colman’s room. (We are not supposed to run in the halls, but we forget that pretty often.) Hannie was already in our classroom.

  “Hi, Hannie!” I called. The Three Musketeers were together again.

  Hannie and Nancy and I sat on some desks in the back of the room. We used to sit together all the time. That was before I got glasses. Then Ms. Colman made me move to the front row. Now I sit up there with the other glasses-wearers. They are Natalie Springer and Ricky Torres. Guess what. Ricky and I are pretend married. We had a wedding on the playground one afternoon. So Ricky is my husband.

  “Good morning, class!” said Ms. Colman.

  Hannie and Nancy and I looked up. Our teacher had come into the room. She clapped her hands. That meant we should sit at our desks and settle down. Time for school to begin.

  That morning after reading, Ms. Colman told us to look out the window. “What do you see?” she asked.

  I raised my hand. “Snow!” I shouted.

  “Yes,” replied Ms. Colman. “Thank you, Karen. And please remember to use your indoor voice. We had some snow last night. That is perfect because today we are going to begin a new unit. We will be learning about snow.”

  I could not believe it. What a great idea. Did Ms. Colman know how much I love snow? Probably. Ms. Colman is the best teacher ever. She is my favorite teacher. I just love her. I think she is perfect, even if she does have to tell me to use my indoor voice sometimes.

  I wished I could invite my teacher over for dinner. That would be so, so cool. None of my teachers has ever been to my house. I decided I would talk to Mommy about my idea right after school.

  The Perfect Snow Day

  After school, Nancy’s mother picked up Nancy and me. Guess who was in the car with her. Danny. Danny is her baby brother. He was in his special car seat, and he was all bundled up. He was wearing so many clothes I could hardly see him.

  Nancy sat in front next to her mother. I sat in back next to Danny. I wanted to play with him, but he was asleep. Danny sleeps a lot. He can sleep anywhere.

  When Mrs. Dawes parked the car, I said, “Thank you for the ride!” I did not stay to play with Nancy. I did not even stick around to see if Danny would wake up. I just ran to my house. I had to talk to Mommy.

  “Mommy!” I called as I dashed through our front door.

  “I’m right here,” she replied.

  Mommy and Andrew were in the living room. Andrew was lining up his little cars along the edge of the rug. Mommy was working at the desk.

  “Hi!” I said.

  “Hi, honey,” said Mommy. “How was school?

  “Fine. Can Ms. Colman come over for dinner sometime?”

  “What?” said Mommy.

  “Your teacher?” said Andrew.

  “Yes, my teacher. Can she come over for dinner?”

  “Oh, Karen, I don’t know,” said Mommy.

  “Please? I bet she would love to come.”

  “I do not want to bother her,” said Mommy.

  “Dinner would not bother her,” I said.

  “We will see,” said Mommy. “Let me think about it.”

  When Mommy says “We will see,” she means stop asking questions. So I went to my room and turned on my sound box. It was time to listen to the radio some more. While I listened, I played with Emily Junior. I let her crawl around in my closet and look for hiding places. Then I put her back in her cage. I was telling her the story of the Twelve Dancing Princesses when I heard the announcer say, “Now here is Doctor G. with the weather.”

  “Just a sec,” I said to Emily. I listened carefully.

  “Expect more light snow tomorrow night,” said Dr. G.

  “Yes!” I cried. “Emily, I will finish that story later.”

  I ran for the phone. I called Nancy. “Come over, okay?” I said.

  Nancy came right over. “Doctor G. says we will have more snow tomorrow,” I told her. “More snow already.”

  “A blizzard?” asked Nancy. (Nancy wanted a snow day, too.)

  “Not a blizzard,” I admitted. “But maybe we will have one soon. It snowed last night, and now it is going to snow again. This must be snow season. It is probably time to get ready for a snow day.”

  “I am ready now,” said Nancy. “My radio is turned to Doctor G.”

  “But we should make plans,” I said. “We should plan the perfect snow day.”

  “Let’s call Hannie,” said Nancy. “We have to plan it with her.”

  We used the phone in the kitchen. I found a pad of paper and a pencil so I could write down ideas. When Hannie was on the phone, I said, “What should we do on a snow day?”

  “Drink hot chocolate with marshmallows,” said Hannie.

  “Go sledding,” said Nancy.

  I made a list on the pad. Then I added Go skating.

  “Put down ‘Build a snowman,’ ” said Hannie.

  “And ‘Make snow angels,’ ” said Hannie.

  When our list was finished, it was pretty long. We would be busy on our snow day. And we would have gigundo fun.

  It’s a Deal!

  Before we knew it, Andrew and I were back at the big house for another weekend. And snow was on the ground.

  “Karen,” said Andrew after dinner on Friday night. “You could have your snow day tomorrow. I think maybe there is enough snow to make a snowman. And I have already made snow angels.”

  “Oh, Andrew,” I said. He is just too little to understand some things. “A snow day is not just any day. It is a day when school is closed. So it cannot be a Saturday. And a snow day is the day after a snowstorm. It is not supposed to snow tonight. So tomorrow will not be a snow day.”

  “Oh. I’m sorry,” said Andrew.

  “That is okay. You’ll learn.” I hugged my brother.

  Andrew was right about one thing, though. We did have enough snow to make a snowman and snow angels. Every few days, a little more snow fell. It was never enough to close school. But it was enough to interest Sam and Charlie. Especially because they were broke.

  “I need money,” said Sam at breakfast the next morning.

  “Me, too. I don’t know where all my money went,” added Charlie.

  “You bought a snowblower with it, you guys,” said Kristy. “And you have not used it once. You have not cleared a single driveway.”

  Charlie looked glum. “I know. Sam and I are ready to work. If I used the snowblower and Sam used a shovel, we could dig people out in no time. It’s just that …” Charlie paused.

  “What?” I wanted to know.

  “I hate calling people up and asking for work.”

  “So do I,” agreed Sam. “I am no good at it.”

  “I could do that!” I crie
d. I jumped up so fast I scared Boo-Boo. He went skittering out of the kitchen. “I could call people. All I would have to do is talk, and I am very good at talking.”

  “Well, that is certainly true,” said Kristy.

  “Hannie and Nancy and I could all do that,” I went on. “I bet we could get you lots of business.”

  “Really?” said Charlie. “Sam and I would pay you part of what we earn every time we shovel out a customer you find for us.”

  “Oh, excellent! I will be rich!” I cried. “We will all be rich! Now Sam, Charlie — I need some information,” I said importantly.

  “What kind of information?” Sam looked puzzled.

  “Oh, like how much you will charge your customers, and what time you will come to their houses to shovel them out. Oh, and the name of your business.”

  “Our name?” said Charlie. “Good point. What should we call ourselves?”

  Charlie and Sam thought and thought. Finally Sam announced, “We will call ourselves the Thomas Brothers.”

  “The Thomas Brothers?” I repeated. That was pretty dull. “How about something more fun like … the Snowmen?”

  Charlie shook his head. “Nope. We want to keep it plain and simple.”

  “All right. I will telephone Nancy and Hannie now. I will see if they want to help me.”

  I picked up the phone. I called my friends. They said they would be happy to find customers for Sam and Charlie. “They will do it!” I told my brothers.

  “Great!” said Charlie. “Then it’s a deal!”

  That very day, the Three Musketeers found two customers for the Thomas Brothers. They were Hannie’s family, and Mrs. Porter. Mrs. Porter lives next door to Daddy. I think she is a witch, but that is another story. Anyway, now she was a customer. The Thomas Brothers were in business.

  Show and Share

  On Sunday I helped Andrew and Emily make a snowman in the front yard. I was trying to be nice to my little brother since he was so confused about snow days. I even let him give the snowman his carrot nose. Then I let him name the snowman. Andrew said grandly, “His name is Bob.”