A Know-Nothing Birthday

by Michele Sobel Spirn, R.W. Alley (Illustrator)

In the second book of the Know-Nothing series, Norris, Morris, and Doris try to throw a surprise birthday party for Boris, but everyone ends up getting surprised. Reprint.

Genres: Childrens

48 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1997

About the author

Michele Sobel Spirn has written and published over 40 books for children. She began her writing career at age 16 when she won a state essay contest. Her prize included a trip to Washington, D.C. to meet the President. Throughout her career, she has had writing jobs in public relations as well as freelance work in educational publishing, mass market and trade publishing. She became interested in writing for children when she and her husband had a son. Influenced by the work of children’s book authors Arnold Lobel and James Marshall, among others, she wrote The Know-Nothings, an “I Can Read” book about four foolish friends. The Know-Nothings series now includes four books about the silly four--Morris, Boris, Doris and Norris--and their dog, Floris. Her love of mysteries has led her to create three middle-grade mysteries about the Bridges family, The Bridges in London, The Bridges in Paris, and The Bridges in Edinburgh. Michele also enjoys writing biographies (Against the Odds: Jackie Joyner-Kersee), young adult novels (Racing Against the Light, Wait Till The Midnight Hour) and nonfiction (Cold-Blooded Creatures, Birth Celebrations, New Year Celebrations). Her latest book is an “I Can Read” book, I Am The Turkey. Michele teaches creative writing at New York University and the New School University. She has a B.A. degree from Syracuse University and an MFA degree in creative writing from the New School University.

Reviews

[J9 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although it could be considered a level 2 reader book it wasn't as engaging as some of the others. My 5 yr old read it easily enough, but the four main characters, Boris, Morris, Doris, and Norris, while meant to be cute in that they rhymed, were very difficult to keep straight, especially since the illustrations weren't all that memorable. In our effort to keep them all straight, it was hard to really enjoy the story. In any case, it's still reading practice.

[kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

tongue twister-y