The Playground Problem

Robin Hill School

by Margaret McNamara, Mike Gordon (Illustrator)

A must-have for any young reader, this Ready-to-Read delivers on important lessons in school!

There's a problem on the playground! The boys won't let the girls play soccer with them during recess. Emma is furious! So she figures out a plan to get them to change their minds. And in the end they all learn that the best teams are the ones that everyone gets to play on!

Genres: School, Childrens, Friendship, Picture Books, Health, Soccer

32 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2004

About the author

Margaret McNamara is the Christopher Award–winning author of more than two dozen books for young readers, including the Robin Hill School series. The Fairy Bell Sisters series is inspired not only by her love of the classic sisterhood novel Little Women but by her own experiences growing up with older sisters (and a baby brother). Margaret and her family live in New York City, but they spend part of their summer on an island in Maine very much like Sheepskerry Island.

Reviews

[Evan Teter]

This book is about tension on the playground between the boys and the girls. The boys do not want the girls playing with them, but as the book progresses, the two groups figure out that they should play together and become friends. I would recommend this book for early readers, and could be a read aloud book if this is something that is happening in my class.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun little book that allows students to discuss their opinions on what boys and girls can and can't do, as well as what they can do together. Kids will love the illustrations that accompany the progression from angry, to very angry, to furious!

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Emma for president.

[Julia Jasztal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mommy's review from 12/14/11 -


3.5 - For anyone who has seen my complaining about some children's books being too repetitive - this book, while not the greatest in the world, is a pretty good look at the fine line between 'too much' and 'just enough'.
This has enough repetition to get through to the young readers but not so much that it'll bore them, make them move on or make their mothers pull their hair out of their heads.
On top of this, there's a nice, decent little story to be found inside. That's not to mention the nice little moral to the story about getting along and boys and girls being able to do the same things. And, if that's not enough, instead of cracking the book open and seeing all shiny, happy white faces, or shiny, happy black faces, or shiny, happy whatever the hell else you can think of faces, you see different faces! Who'd a thunk it?
All around winner.
This isn't the best book we've ever read, it's not even the best we've read this month. But it is a good one, it is worth reading and if you're kid is new in school, (the first year or so) I think it's even better.

[Ashley Wampler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emma wants to play soccer on the boys team at recess but they will not let her. So Emma and her father come up with a plan. Emma starts the girls team, and when the boys see how good they are, they want to play too. Emma makes the boys think about how mean they were earlier in the week, and the boys decided that everyone can play soccer together!

[Hope Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute book to teach children that boys and girls are equal. This is a hard concept for little kids, they think boys have their things and girls have their things. It is important to prevent children from continuing to have these ideas because this creates bias between male and females. It is important to talk about these problems while they are young.

[Elizabeth S · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, the story was fun, simple, and well done. Plus good lessons learned and can be a good opening to discuss some potential school problems with one's kids. Nothing seems fake or overly contrived. Rereading this book helped my preschooler and me discuss problem solving, how to deal with anger, what "fair" means, and giving people space/time to change.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picture Book

Emma wants to play soccer with the boys, but they tell her no, because they think girls can't play soccer. The next day at recess she gets all the girls to play soccer, and then the boys ask her to play with them, but she says no. The boys learn that they can all play together.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is an awesome book to use in a classroom when their is disputes especially when boys and girls are not playing well together. Very good for conflict resolution and getting children to accept each others differences

[Kelsey Nauert · Rating 4 out of 5]

The boys won't let the girls play soccer with them so they start playing by themselves. The boys realize that the girls are good and allow them to play with them. The girls make them apologize. I would read this if there were gender issues in the classroom.

[Hillary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book about learning to share. The boys do not want the girls to play on their soccer team and the girls do not want to play on the boys soccer team. In the end they figured it out that boys and girls can play on the same team.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a typical story about children learning to solve problems. The moral of this story is that the best teams are the ones that everyone gets to play on. This is simple way to introduce to young children how to quickly solve common problems that might arise on the playground.

[Brittnee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute book about boys vs girls at recess and how they solve their problems. Great for students because they know exactly how that is to be in a situation with boys vs girls

[Deana Pittman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Abbi liked this one! She likes "figuring" out the problem!

[Room 123 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you ever been left out? Then this is the book for you! I like the part when Emma's face gets red because the boys wouldn't let her play soccer. Check it out at your local library! By Nicolas

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good one for my little reader to enjoy.

[Heather Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

megan winter reading 2017, children's book, leveled reader, series, robin hill school, boys, girls, sports, first grade, second grade,