The Unprecedented Snowfall

Maycomb experiences its first snowfall since 1885, causing school to be canceled. Scout, who has never seen snow, is terrified at first, thinking the world is ending. Jem, equally new to snow, is fascinated. Mr. Avery jokingly blames the children's misbehavior for the unnatural weather. Miss Maudie warns them not to step on her thrift plants buried under the snow. The children gather snow from Miss Maudie's yard and, with Jem's ingenuity, build a snowman over a base of dirt, creating a figure that resembles Mr. Avery. Atticus makes them modify it to avoid a caricature, and Miss Maudie good-naturedly reclaims her hat and hedge-clippers from the snowman.