by Abby Klein
“This is going to be the best day ever,” said Josh. “I’ve never had a snow day before. So far, it’s pretty sweet … no school and tons of snow to play in!”
“Let’s get going,” said Robbie. “We don’t want to waste a minute.”
We grabbed our sleds, walked down the driveway, and turned right down the street.
When we came to Mrs. Golden’s house, her dog, Baxter, was rolling around in the snow in the front yard. He ran over to me as we walked by.
“Hey, Baxter. What do you think, boy? It looks like you like the snow as much as we do.”
Baxter barked, and we all laughed.
“See you later, boy. Have fun making your doggy snow angels,” I said as I gave him one last pat on the head.
“So how far is it to Potter’s Farm?” Josh asked.
“Not too far,” I said.
“It’s only about a ten-minute walk,” said Robbie.
All of a sudden, I felt a snowball hit the back of my jacket.
“Hey!” I said, turning around. “Where did that come from?”
Josh laughed and took off running down the street. “Betcha can’t catch me,” he said.
I grabbed a handful of snow and pressed it into a ball as I ran after him. When I got close enough, I threw it with all my might, and it hit him square on the back of the head.
“Wow! Nice arm,” Josh said. “I didn’t know you could throw like that. You must play baseball.”
Robbie threw two snowballs, one right after the other, and caught us both by surprise.
“That was pretty sneaky, Robbie,” I said. “You just popped out of nowhere.”
We continued chasing each other and throwing snowballs all the way to Potter’s Farm.
By the time we reached the farm, we were all out of breath. I threw my sled on the ground. “Hang on a second, guys,” I said. “I’ve got to catch my breath.”
“Me, too,” said Robbie.
“I thought you guys said it was a ten-minute walk,” said Josh. “That didn’t seem like ten minutes.”
“That’s because we ran the whole way,” I said.
“Let’s hit the sledding hill,” said Josh. “I’ve been waiting to go sledding all morning.”
“Nah, let’s make a snow fort first,” I said.
“How do you do that?” asked Josh.
“You have to pack the snow into bricks, like this,” said Robbie, making a rectangular block of snow, “and then you stack the bricks like an igloo.”
“That’s pretty cool,” said Josh. “Where should we do it?”
“How about over by that tree?” said Robbie.
“That’s a great place!” I said.
We ran over to the tree, put our sleds down, and started making blocks of snow. We stacked them one on top of another.
Josh looked around. “I see a lot of kids here, but I don’t see Max.”
“Really?” I said, pretending that I hadn’t noticed until he said something. Secretly, I was hoping that Max wouldn’t come, and I wouldn’t have to race him.
Just then Jessie walked up. “Hi, guys,” she said.
“Hey, Jessie,” I said. “Want to help?”
“Sure, Freddy!”
“Jessie, have you seen Max?” asked Josh.
“No, I don’t think he’s here,” said Jessie. “I actually hope that big bully doesn’t come.”
“I hope he does,” said Josh.
“You do?” said Jessie. “Why?”
“Because Freddy is going to beat the pants off of him.”
“Freddy? Really? What are you talking about?” Jessie asked.
“Freddy and Max are going to race down Cherry Hill,” said Josh.
“You are, Freddy?” said Jessie. “But aren’t you afraid of Cherry Hill?”
“Was afraid,” said Josh, smiling, “but not anymore. Freddy has changed his thinking.”
“Wow, Freddy! That’s great!” said Jessie.
“Yeah, great!” I mumbled. My heart was starting to beat faster just thinking about it.
“Now I do hope Max shows up,” said Jessie.
All of a sudden, I heard a familiar voice behind me. “Well, then, it’s your lucky day, because here I am,” said Max, grinning.
He grabbed me by my jacket and spun me around. “Ready to race, wimp, or you too scared?”
“Oh, no, he’s ready,” said Josh.
“I want to hear it from him,” said Max.
I gulped. “Ready.”
“Then let’s race!”
Max picked up his sled and took off running toward Cherry Hill.
My feet wouldn’t move. It felt like they were frozen into the ground.
“Come on, Freddy. What are you waiting for?” asked Josh.
“I don’t know if I can do this,” I said.
“What do you mean? Of course you can,” said Josh. “Remember, it’s all in your head.”
I nodded.
“Change your thinking,” said Robbie.
“After this race, Max will never be able to call you a baby again,” said Jessie.
I gulped. “You guys really think I can do this?”
“Yes!” they all said together. “We know you can.”
We high-fived one another. “You guys are the best friends ever!” I said.
“Let’s get going before Max thinks you chickened out,” said Josh.
We grabbed our sleds and ran toward the hill. As we got closer, it looked even steeper than I remembered it.
“It’s all in your head. It’s all in your head,” I whispered to myself.
“There you guys are,” said Max. “I couldn’t see you. I thought the little baby had chickened out at the last minute like he always does.”
“Are you crazy?” said Josh. “Freddy’s been waiting for this race all morning.”
“Oh really?” said Max, grinning.
“Yeah. Really,” said Josh.
“Then let’s get going,” said Max. “What are we waiting for?”
We slowly climbed to the top of Cherry Hill.
“Okay, here are the rules,” said Josh.
“We don’t need any dumb rules,” said Max.
“Yes, you do,” said Josh, “so listen up. Rule Number One: No one starts until I say ‘go!’ Rule Number Two: You cannot crash into the other person’s sled on purpose. And Rule Number Three: The first person to cross the finish line is the winner.”
“Where’s the finish line?” asked Max.
“You see that big tree over there?” said Josh.
“You mean the one with the crooked branches?” I said.
“Yep. That’s the one. The first person to pass that tree is the winner.”
“Easy peasy,” said Max.
“All right. Get on your sleds,” said Josh.
I put my sled in the snow and sat down on it. I could feel my palms sweating in my mittens. My heart was racing.
“It’s all in your head. It’s all in your head,” I told myself over and over.
Josh bent down and whispered in my ear, “Face your fear, Freddy. You can do this.”
“Hey! What are you telling him?” shouted Max. “You can’t make any secret plans. That’s cheating!”
“Calm down over there,” said Josh. “We’re not making any secret plans.”
“Ready, Freddy?” Josh whispered.
I nodded.
Josh stood up. “Get ready, get set, go!”
I gave my sled a little push, pulled my legs in, and we were off!
My sled was practically flying down the hill. The wind stung my eyes. The trees were whizzing by so fast they were a blur. I couldn’t see Max anywhere.
I hit a huge bump, and my sled flew into the air. I hung on to the sides of the sled with all my might and held my breath. The sled hit the frozen ground again and continued on down the hill.
The big tree was getting closer and closer.
I could hear my friends chanting, “Go, Freddy, go! Go, Freddy, go!”
&n
bsp; A smile crossed my face. Maybe I was actually going to win this race.
Then, out of nowhere, Max flew by me on his sled.
My heart sank.
Max turned around and yelled, “See you later, loser!”
Turning around to brag like that was a big mistake. He didn’t see a huge bump directly in his path. His sled hit the bump, and Max went flying through the air.
He landed face-first in the snow, just as my sled crossed the finish line.
My friends all came running over.
Josh picked me up and swung me around. “You did it, Freddy! You did it!”
“You won the race!” said Robbie.
“You beat the biggest bully in the whole second grade,” said Jessie.
I still couldn’t believe it. I beat Max in a race down Cherry Hill!
Josh walked over to Max, who was lying on the ground covered in snow from head to toe. “Who’s the loser now?” said Josh.
“Yeah. Whatever,” Max mumbled.
“Not ‘whatever,’ ” said Josh. “Freddy won fair and square. You need to congratulate him.”
Max looked up at me with snow still clinging to his eyelashes. “Congratulations, you little baby,” he grumbled.
“You can’t call him that ever again,” said Jessie. “Not after that race.”
“Fine. Congratulations,” Max mumbled again.
I smiled. I did it, I thought to myself. I changed my thinking and faced my fear, just like Josh had taught me. I beat Max Sellars in a race down Cherry Hill.
“So what did you think?” asked Josh. “It wasn’t so bad, was it?”
“No! It was sweet! Really sweet!” I said.
We laughed.
“I’m ready to do it all over again,” I said.
“Then what are we waiting for?” said Josh. “Let’s go!”
DIRECTIONS:
1. Mix together in a pan until smooth:
2 cups flour
2 cups salt
2 tbsp cream of tartar
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 cups water
2. With a grown-up’s help, cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture forms a ball and sticks to the spoon.
3. Cool and knead in iridescent glitter to make it sparkle.
4. Build your snowman!
(Store your snow dough in an airtight container)
YOU WILL NEED:
1. Blue construction paper
2. Crayons or markers
3. White paint
4. Q-tips
On a piece of the blue construction paper, draw your favorite snow day activity with markers or crayons.
Dip a Q-tip into the white paint and dot it all over your picture to make it snow!
YOU WILL NEED:
a clear plastic cup
water
a stopwatch or a timer
DIRECTIONS:
1. Fill the cup halfway up with water
2. Predict how many minutes it will take the water to freeze
3. Place the cup of water in your freezer and use your stopwatch to time exactly how many minutes it takes for the water to freeze
4. Once it is completely frozen, take the cup out of the freezer
5. Predict how many minutes it will take the ice to melt
6. Use your stopwatch to time exactly how many minutes it takes for the ice to melt
7. Which took longer … freezing or melting?
ABBY KLEIN has been a first-grade and kindergarten teacher for twenty years. She and her husband and two children live in Vermont. They have four dogs.
JOHN McKINLEY has been drawing all his life. For the Ready, Freddy! books, he hides the word “fin” in every picture. He and his family live in Northern California.
#1: Tooth Trouble
#2: The King of Show-and-Tell
#3: Homework Hassles
#4: Don’t Sit on My Lunch!
#5: Talent Show Scaredy-Pants
#6: Help! A Vampire’s Coming!
#7: Yikes! Bikes!
#8: Halloween Fraidy-Cat
#9: Shark Tooth Tale
#10: Super-Secret Valentine
#11: The Pumpkin Elf Mystery
#12: Stop That Hamster!
#13: The One Hundredth Day of School!
#14: The Camping Catastrophe!
#15: Thanksgiving Turkey Trouble
#16: Ready, Set, Snow!
#17: Firehouse Fun!
#18: The Perfect Present
#19: The Penguin Problem!
#20: Apple Orchard Race
#21: Going Batty
#22: Science Fair Flop
#23: A Very Crazy Christmas
#24: Shark Attack!
#25: Save the Earth!
#26: The Giant Swing
#27: The Reading Race
#1: Second Grade Rules!
#2: Snow Day Dare
Text copyright © 2015 by Abby Klein
Illustrations copyright © 2015 by John McKinley
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc. SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
First printing, January 2015
e-ISBN 978-0-545-69108-6
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
