April Fool! Watch Out at School! [Hardcover]

Diane deGroat (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 17, 2009 | Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

It's April Fools' Day, and Gilbert is looking forward to playing tricks on his friends. Unfortunately he's the one getting tricked by everyone else, including Mrs. Byrd! But the worst prankster is Lewis the bully. In the end Gilbert outwits Lewis with the best trick of all.

Diane deGroat's delightful story and fun-filled illustrations will enchant readers of all ages, especially when they discover the surprises in many of the illustrations. The reader is getting April Fooled, too!

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3—Gilbert and his friends are back and ready to celebrate April Fool's Day. The book is filled with the tomfoolery that tickles children's funny bones: warnings of untied shoelaces, plastic spiders, and gummy worms in apples. The trouble begins when Lewis, Gilbert's nemesis, finds a ready target for his pranks in the bespectacled protagonist. He enjoys taunting Gilbert and plays a more mean-spirited trick than the others by placing an "I smell" sign on Gilbert's back on their way to lunch in the cafeteria. Gilbert is able to pay back Lewis by making him stew the entire afternoon waiting for a trick to be played on him. As the school day ends, Gilbert tells Lewis "Gotcha" and reveals there was no trick at all. The cartoon illustrations abound with visual tricks that observant viewers are sure to notice. DeGroat continues to show that she has a keen sense of classroom dynamics and the ability to connect with readers and their world. A popular choice for seasonal read-alouds.—Maura Bresnahan, High Plain Elementary School, Andover, MA
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From Booklist

Gilbert looks forward to tricking his classmates on April Fools’ Day, but instead he falls for all their pranks, while every gag he attempts is a dud. Tired of being the butt of Lewis’ jokes, Gilbert turns the tables by outsmarting him in a game of psychological warfare. Children will find it easy to sympathize with gullible yet sometimes cagy Gilbert, appearing here in the twelfth volume of the Gilbert and Friends series. And they’ll enjoy studying the colorful illustrations for the many sight gags that go unmentioned in the text. A good picture book to share on this peculiar holiday. Preschool-Grade 2. --Carolyn Phelan

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (February 17, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061430420
• ISBN-13: 978-0061430428
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #499,885 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Diane deGroat is the illustrator of more than 120 children's books and the author-illustrator of other bestselling books about Gilbert, including Mother, You're the Best! (But Sister, You're a Pest!); Last One in Is a Rotten Egg!; Trick or Treat, Smell my Feet; Jingle Bells, Homework Smells; Happy Birthday to You, You Belong in a Zoo; No More Pencils, No More Books, No More Teacher's Dirty Looks!; Brand-new Pencils, Brand-new Books; and the New York Times bestseller roses are pink, your feet really stink. She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Watch Gilbert's "worst April Fools' Day" turn into his best ever when he tricks Lewis!, May 23, 2009

By 

D. Fowler "Dragonfly77" (Vermont) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: April Fool! Watch Out at School! (Hardcover)

It was April Fools' Day and Gilbert was anxious to get to school to play tricks on his friends. He was loading his knapsack with fake ants, spiders and fun stuff like spicy gum. His sister Lola told him a joke, but he didn't have time to show her how to play a real trick and rushed off to catch the bus. Patty played the "shoe's untied" trick on him, a great one he could do to someone else. Principal Pug was in on the tricks too. "Day nice a have!" Wow, he was something else, but Mrs. Byrd wasn't going to be any fun, or so he thought. She played a trick on him too. Hahahahahaha!

Poor Gilbert even got stuck sitting on a whoopee cushion. PLFFFT! Nobody liked his dumb old tricks. Even his mother "got him" by sticking a gummy worm in his apple. EVERYONE was tricking Gilbert. "This is the worst April Fools' Day ever-everybody's playing tricks on me, but I can't trick anyone! Gilbert did some heavy thinking and told Lewis he had "one more trick" he'd been saving up for him. He whispered it to Patty and she thought it would be "the best trick ever!" And it really was, but you'll have to read the book to find out about it!

This is a very humorous and delightful trickster tale and the lively illustrations compliment it perfectly. If the reader is sharp, he or she can find some "tricks" hidden in the illustrations. The list of the tricks is on the copyright page, but try not to read them first! In addition to reading a fun, lively tale you'll be sharpening your observation skills big time in this book!