April Fool! (Easy-to-Read, Puffin) [Paperback]

Harriet Ziefert (Author), Chris L. Demarest (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Series: Easy-to-Read, Puffin

In April Fool! Will tells an unbelievable story, complete with a bicycle-riding elephant. But his friends are bound to figure it out; it is April 1st, after all.

Illustrated by Chris Demarest

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-2-This beginning reader is a big disappointment. Will, a young skateboarder, tells a crowd of increasingly skeptical friends a meaningless and contrived story of an elephant's antics. At times, this tale in verse seems to have been written more to complete a rhyme than to make sense or move the story along: "He raced with a bus/that was going to town./He put back a flagpole/that had fallen down." The illustrations of the anthropomorphized elephant are also inconsistent. In most, his hind legs are drawn to scale, but in others they are much longer. While the use of double-page spreads to convey the sheer mass of the animal is effective, and the cartoons and the skateboarding narrator have some appeal, the nonsensical text won't fool anyone.
Diane Janoff, Queens Library, CLASP Office, NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

On the way to school one morning, Will regales his friends with a tall tale about an adventurous, acrobatic elephant he once saw along the same route. As the absurd story goes on, the children begin to suspect that something's up and finally join in the chant, "Liar! Liar! Pants on fire!" Will nonchalantly replies, "April Fool!" Jaunty ink drawings tinted with bright washes give this Viking Easy-to-Read title a cheerful look as they illustrate both the story and the story-within-the-story. Upbeat fare for beginning readers and a possible read-aloud choice for younger children on April Fool's Day. Carolyn Phelan --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Puffin (February 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141305827
• ISBN-13: 978-0141305820
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,293,790 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Harriet Ziefert was born in New Jersey. She grew up in North Bergen, New Jersey, where she attended the local schools. She graduated from Smith College, then received a Masters degree in Education from New York University. "About twelve years ago," says Ziefert in a 1995 interview, "I tried to get a job as an editor, but no one would hire me as a trade editor. So I decided to write my own books." Since then, she has written several hundred books, mostly picture books and easy-to-read books. "I write books very quickly," she says, "in about twelve hours. I rewrite them three times over three days, and then they're done." She writes about twenty books a year. Ziefert's picture book A New Coat for Anna is about a girl in a bombed-out European city during the months just after World War II. Anna has outgrown her old coat, and her mother trades her few surviving treasures--a watch, a lamp, a necklace, and a porcelain teapot--in order to obtain wool and have it spun, woven, and finally sewn into a fine red coat for Anna. A Horn Book Magazine reviewer stated, "the simple text, based on a true story, carries the narrative along effectively." The book, which was illustrated by Anita Lobel, was chosen as one of ten books to be read aloud by former First Lady Barbara Bush as part of a program promoting reading. Ziefert was invited to the White House for the occasion. The reason Ziefert began writing easy-to-read books was that she felt "they were getting too hard for kids to read in the first grade." She says that she wrote easy-to-read books with seventy-five or fewer words, even ones with fifty or fewer words, "to see how much of a story" she could produce with that limit. She enjoyed the challenge, and cites her book Sleepy Dog as an example. "Sleepy Dog is the most successful book I've ever done, in terms of number of books sold." She's also been working on a developmental program with publisher Dorling Kindersley, made up of books for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. Her book Pete's Chicken, which was illustrated by Laura Rader, was reviewed in the New York Times Book Review as "a simple, sweet 'Song of Myself' for children . . . [which] applauds the specialness of every child as it reminds parents of the healing power of just being there for children." Among her other books is a series of easy-to-read books, such as Trip Day and Worm Day, about an inventive science teacher and his rambunctious class of students. Ziefert's book Let's Get a Pet was named an Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children by a joint committee of the National Science Teachers Association and the Children's Book Council. . Ms. Ziefert lives in Maplewood, New Jersey and Lincoln, Massachusetts. She has two adult sons.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for beginning readers, April 16, 2010

By 

Z Hayes (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: April Fool! (Easy-to-Read, Puffin) (Paperback)

My daughter is 5 and found the books in the Puffin Easy-to-Read series (level 1) to be just the right stage for her in developing her reading skills. She is able to read them with a high level of fluency and the success she experiences with these books has given her more confidence and motivated her to read more. Level 1 here is for ages 4-7 (as recommended by the publisher). There are familiar sight words appropriate for this level. The stories in this series are engaging and come with full-color illustrations which interest young readers. Here the story is about a young boy who regales his friends with a tall tale. It is a fun story and should engage the attention of young readers.