This weekly column will look at lists of books kids are reading in various categories, including grade level, book genre, and data from booksellers. Information on the books below came from Amazon.com’s list of children’s bestsellers, and are listed in order of popularity.
Children’s books on snow (Ages 4-8)
1. “Snow” by Cynthia Ryland and Lauren Stringer
2. “Snow” by Philip D. Eastman and Roy McKie
3. “Snow” book & CD set by Uri Shulevitz and Sean Schemmel
4. “Dream Snow” by Eric Carle
5. “The Story of Snow: The Science of Winter’s Wonder” by Mark Cassino
6. “Snow Day!” By Lester L. Laminack and Adam Gustavson
7. “The Snowy Day” by Ezra Jack Keats
8. “The Snow Show” by Carolyn Fisher
9. “Snowflake Bentley” by Jacqueline Briggs Martin and Mary Azarian
10. “Snow Day” by Komako Sakai
Snow days are usually gifts from heaven. When the local TV station predicts snow, students wear their pajamas inside out and backward, and do a little snow dance — after they’ve finished all their homework. (Everyone knows that not doing homework is guaranteed to be punished by the dreaded two-hour delay.)
The snow event of last weekend had all the elements of perfection for students: snow falling overnight and continuing into the next day, accumulations high enough to lead weather forecasters to utter the phrase, “Don’t go out unless you have to,” and a high fluffy quotient — good for making snowmen and for general romping. Only two problems stood in the way of perfection: the weekend, and the holidays.
The weekend, however, became a blessing. The snow was not just a school-closing kind of snow, it was a record-breaking, school paralysis kind of snow. In past years when we’ve had 15 to 20 inches of snowfall, Fairfax County schools stayed closed for a week, and the unthinkable occurred: The school day was lengthened to make up for lost time. The tricky thing about snow days is that you want three, but no more, because Fairfax builds in three days for inclement weather, and any beyond that number have to be made up.
The weekend problem, therefore, disappeared with those last flakes on Saturday. The holidays became the sticking point.
Students love the last few days before the holidays because of an unspoken agreement with teachers and administrators to attend school, be relatively attentive, but not work too hard. If their teachers are creative, they find “fun” learning activities like quiz shows based on content from the class with students as contestants; some show films related to schoolwork, and others invent projects that involve lots of colorful construction paper and glue. It’s school — but with a difference.
The real difference can be found in the hallways, though. Students carry plates of cookies from class to class, and are laden with pretty bags filled with gifts and cards for friends and teachers. They smile a lot. The gifts are small ones, but they’re thoughtful and plentiful, representing the true spirit of Christmas. Boys give their girlfriends stuffed animals and flowers — not jewelry or other expensive gifts. The spirit of the hallways during those last few days echoes the old adage “It’s the thought that counts.”
When snow wipes out school before the holidays, students are robbed of those pleasures. Now they can’t deliver cookies or stationery to their favorite teachers; now they can’t exchange cards and funny Santa jokes with their friends; now they can’t long for the end of the school day on Dec. 23, when it’s REALLY vacation!
I don’t wish to overdramatize the trauma here; students are still happy to be out of school, and will no doubt see many of their friends over the break for a gift exchange. But the lockerside cookie nibbles and colorfully wrapped sacks of presents will not be part of this school year. That holiday spirit may still be present in their individual homes, but this year it did not become part of the school community, and that is not as easily made up as an algebra test.
Erica Jacobs, whose column appears Wednesday, teaches at George Mason University. E-mail her at [email protected].
