April Foolishness

By Teresa Bateman and Nadine Bernard Westcott

STARRED REVIEW! "Zany and inventive, the artwork amplifies the story's humor. A great storyhour choice for April Fool's Day or just about any other day."—Booklist starred review

Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award 2005
Booklist Editors' Choice 2004
2007-2008 Volunteer State Master List
Winner, 2006-2007 Arkansas Diamond Primary Book Award

It's a spring morning on the farm. Grandma is happy the grandkis are visiting—they've picked just the right day!—and Grandpa is fixing breakfast. Suddenly his grandson reports that the cows have got loose! He thinks Big Brown Bessie just stepped on a goose! "Good gracious," Grandpa says as he pours himself a glass of milk. When his granddaughter shouts the chickens are out, Grandpa cooks up some eggs. Pigs broke the gate" Grandpa fries bacon. Why is Grandpa so cool? Because he knows the kids are trying to play an April Fool's trick!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
• Release date: Jan 1, 2004
• ISBN: 9780807504024

Teresa Bateman

Teresa Bateman is the author of many books for children, including The Bully Blockers Club and April Foolishness. She is a children's librarian and lives in Washington state.

Book preview

Reviews for April Foolishness

[villemezbrown · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm not a fan of April Fools Day, but this story is a fun twist on it. Grandpa isn't falling for his grandchildren's attempts at fooling him, but Grandma has a surprise in store for him.What I really like are the little associations between Grandpa's calm breakfast preparations and the farm animals the kids are claiming have broken loose from their pens: when they yell "cows," he pours milk; when they scream "chickens," he fries some eggs; and so on. What a fun and sly way to sneak in educational material.

[lmeza-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It was nice and colorful.