April Foolishness [Hardcover]

Teresa Bateman (Author), Nadine Bernard Westcott (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2004 | Grade Level: K and up

It's a spring morning on the farm. Grandpa is fixing breakfast for his visiting grandkids. Suddenly his grandson reports that the cows have got loose! He thinks Big Brown Bessie just stepped on a goose!

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 2–Family pranks highlight the gentle, teasing relationships in this amusing tale. Grandpa thinks he's wise to his grandchildren's April Fools' Day tricks and ignores their warnings of animals run amok. According to the children, cows, chickens, goats, and sheep are running wild in a glorious celebration of freedom while calm, collected Grandpa methodically cooks his breakfast. Grandma joins in with a hoax of her own to cap the morning. Cartoon artwork closely follows the action as the disarray grows, drawing readers into Grandpa's imagination and disbelief. Bold watercolors, punctuated by ink detail, frame the animals' frolic as described in the rhyming verse. Wake up a storytime about farm life or save this one for April foolishness.–Mary Elam, Forman Elementary School, Plano, TX
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* K-Gr. 2. The writer and illustrator of Farm Flu (2001) join forces for a new farm story. This one celebrates April Fool's Day with a suitable "gotcha" ending and plenty of fun along the way. Visiting their grandparents' farm, two children take turns running indoors to tell their grandpa of a string of catastrophes: the cows are loose, the pigs broke the gate, the goats are stampeding. Grandpa greets each revelation with remarkable equanimity and continues to fix his breakfast. When he confides to Grandma that the kids' news bulletins are April foolery, she tells him that April Fool's Day is tomorrow, setting him up to fall for their pranks. Though picture-book creators are often warned against writing in rhymed couplets--and for good reason--Bateman's verse prances along in a pleasing way, never sounding a false note or tripping over its metric feet. Bright with colorful washes, Westcott's ink drawings illustrate the action with equal lightness and grace. Older children may observe parallels between the children's tales and Grandpa's actions. When told that the pigs are loose, he reaches for the bacon. Hearing of the sheep's escape, he pulls on his wool sweater. Zany and inventive, the artwork amplifies the story's humor. A great choice for storytime on April Fool's Day or anytime. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company (January 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807504041
• ISBN-13: 978-0807504048
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 11 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,410,327 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars NO FOOLING - A FUN BOOK, September 20, 2004

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: April Foolishness (Hardcover)

Kids love to visit their grandparents, and grandparents love to have them (most of the time). A visit may hold many surprises when it begins on April Fool's Day, which is what happened when two rambunctious youngsters arrived at the farm.

Told in lilting rhyme and illustrated in bold full-page color "April Foolishness" is a merry look at that special day. Grandma begins the day as grandpa is cooking breakfast in the kitchen. She thinks, "Life on the farm keeps a gal on her toes. That's what grandma thought as she flung on her clothes."

Well grandpa needs to be on his toes, too because the first thing he hears from his young visitors is that the cows have gotten loose and one stepped on a goose. Next is the announcement that the chickens are out, and the pigs broke the gate.

Children will smile their way through this rollicking story until they learn who pulls off the best April Fool joke of all.

- Gail Cooke

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lot of Fun for the Kids and Storyteller, April 10, 2008

By 

G. Sebenick "GildaSe" (RPV, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: April Foolishness (Paperback)

This book is short, which is great when you are running late for bedtime. More importantly, it's a lot of fun. The basic story is of the grandkids trying to scare Grandpa that all the animals have gone crazy on the farm. Grandpa, knowing that it's Aprill Fool's Day, makes the appropriate concerned noises, but his actions clearly show he is not fooled. That is, he is not fooled until a very smart Grandma tells him April Fool's Day is tomorrow. He runs out in a panic and she gets to enjoy the breakfast he made for himself before letting loose with a cheery, "April Fools." Needless to say, Grandpa looks very sheepish at the end while Grandma and the grandkids look quite pleased with themselves.

The text is simple and rhymes, which makes it enjoyable to read aloud. The illustrations are hysterical (sheep sunning themselves on beach chairs while listening to an iPod or goats wearing clothes from the laudry line are just a couple of examples) and I laugh right along with my 3 and 6 year old boys when I see them. I have read the book several times and it doesn't get tiresome. Definitely money well spent.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The grandkids are visiting Grandma and Grandpa on their farm, January 3, 2005

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: April Foolishness (Hardcover)

The grandkids are visiting Grandma and Grandpa on their farm. Grandpa is fixing breakfast for everyone when suddenly his grandson bursts into the kitchen shouting "The cows have got loose! I think Big Brown Bessie just stepped on a goose!" But Grandpa doesn't respond to the news -- he just calmly pours himself a glass of milk. Grandpa is so relaxed because its April Fools' Day and the children are playing tricks! Then Grandma steps in with a trick of her own!! In creating her lyrical text for April Foolishness, author Teresa Bateman draws upon her own experiences growing up on a farm and creates a story to which Nadine Westcott's lively illustrations are a perfect complement.