Karen's Snow Day

Baby-Sitters Little Sister #34

by Ann M. Martin, Susan Tang (Illustrator)

Karen has been eagerly awaiting a snow day for weeks, but when one finally comes, she is frustrated when she, Hannie, and Nancy must help her brothers shovel snow. Original.

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Middle Grade, Juvenile

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Ann Matthews Martin was born on August 12, 1955. She grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, with her parents and her younger sister, Jane. After graduating from Smith College, Ann became a teacher and then an editor of children's books. She's now a full-time writer.

Ann gets the ideas for her books from many different places. Some are based on personal experiences, while others are based on childhood memories and feelings. Many are written about contemporary problems or events. All of Ann's characters, even the members of the Baby-sitters Club, are made up. But many of her characters are based on real people. Sometimes Ann names her characters after people she knows, and other times she simply chooses names that she likes.

Ann has always enjoyed writing. Even before she was old enough to write, she would dictate stories to her mother to write down for her. Some of her favorite authors at that time were Lewis Carroll, P. L. Travers, Hugh Lofting, Astrid Lindgren, and Roald Dahl. They inspired her to become a writer herself.

Since ending the BSC series in 2000, Ann’s writing has concentrated on single novels, many of which are set in the 1960s.

After living in New York City for many years, Ann moved to the Hudson Valley in upstate New York where she now lives with her dog, Sadie, and her cats, Gussie, Willy and Woody. Her hobbies are reading, sewing, and needlework. Her favorite thing to do is to make clothes for children.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/annmma...

Reviews

[are eggos an instrument · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s short and sweet! I picked it up first because it was short, and I figured it’d be the perfect book to ease myself back into reading. Sure, it’s a children’s book, but I really enjoyed it and honestly, it did help me get back into reading, so there’s that! While reading, I couldn’t help but picture it as an animated episode, honestly, even the title sounds like one.

I think I would have absolutely loved the Baby-Sitters Club and Baby-Sitters Little Sister series as a kid. it’s a shame I didn’t grow up reading them, because I would’ve been obsessed. I really like Karen; she’s a go-getter, and I love that for her. She’s such an adorable protagonist, always considerate and thoughtful, though she can get ahead of herself sometimes. But that’s okay, because she learns from her mistakes and adapts quickly.

I also loved her relationships with her friends and family. There’s such a warm, welcoming feeling in those moments like it really made the story even more enjoyable to read. The way the snow was described felt so vivid, i could almost feel it, even though I’ve never actually seen snow before. I’m from Fiji, where snow doesn’t exist! It does get chilly here during the cold season, sure, but that’s about it. Overall, Karen’s Snow Day was a genuinely delightful read; short, cozy, and heartwarming. I’d give it 5 out of 5 stars, especially for helping me get back into the rhythm of reading again.

[Laura DeGrave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Karen has visions of snowflakes flitting in the air.
Along with the strong desire for her school to call out a Snow Day.
Her two older brothers go into business clearing driveways when the powder starts to fall.
Karen and her best friends drum up customers on inclusion for a cut of the profits.
The girls aquire more driveways than the boys can handle.
Will the girls lose their winterland plans?
How are the boys going get all nine driveways cleared by themselves?
Tune in to Dr. G's forecast and see for yourself!

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty fun one!
Karen spends the whole book anticipating a snow day, and when it finally comes, it's ruined because she and her friends have booked 9 people for her brothers' business of shoveling driveways... and she has to help out (getting them food and dry gloves and stuff, they're not actually asking a 7-year-old to shovel driveaways). The girls get their fun "snow day" they planned the next day, when their school is closed a second day for a broken boiler.
Some timeline wonkiness in this one... Karen brings up the events in BSC SS#7 Snowbound as though they happened last month, when they actually happened more than a year ago.

[Em's Adventures · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would never have though of inviting any of my teachers to dinner 😂 Go Karen!

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

The snow day aspect was fun. It stressed me out that Karen forgot to tell her stepbrothers about the jobs she got for them.

[Jaclyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't get how Sam and Charlie expect to make money with clearing so few lawns, but okay.

Snow day sounds fun. 😊

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I miss snow days.

[V. Arrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know what I love about the girls of Stoneybrook? They are all always scheming. I love a good scheming girl.

[Kristin Aamodt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading this with my second grader! Always lots of fun! As usual Karen might get a little carried away and has to take some responsibility, but all’s well in the end. Fun winter read.

[Sayo -bibliotequeish- · Rating 3 out of 5]

When you were too old for childrens books, but too young for The Baby Sitters Club.
Ann M. Martin really is a genius to piggy back on the success of The Baby Sitters Club.

After reading the little sisters series I remember feeling like a real adult opening up that first BSC book.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

childhood fave.

[Moria Loyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was OK. I thought it took awhile to get to the point that was really simple...

[Mellanie C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Karen and her friends get into trouble when they book too many snow shoveling jobs for Karen's big brothers. My students will enjoy this one.b