Pearl and Wagner: One Funny Day (Dial Easy-to-Read) [Hardcover]

Kate McMullan (Author), R.W. Alley (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Grade 1–3—In this delightful addition to a solid series, fluent beginning readers will identify with Wagner's April Fools' Day of frustration and satisfaction. In the first chapter, the mouse is fooled by his friend Pearl, his teacher, the librarian, and the cafeteria menu. Then he hopes that the announcement of a math test is another trick, only to discover that "It's for real." Next, Mr. Jumper holds a dance contest during a rainy recess in the gym. Pearl dazzles everyone with her jitterbug and Lulu hip-hops with some "smooth moves," but when Wagner boogies down he falls on his behind. In the third chapter, Wagner asks to visit the school nurse. He returns to class covered with green spots and announces that he has "a bad case of bug pox" and that it's catching. After several loud sneezes, he exclaims, "Ah...ah...ah...April fools!" McMullan's exquisitely crafted story has an endearing blend of humor, humiliation, friendship, and familiar school scenarios. Done in pen and ink, watercolor, and colored pencil, Alley's distinguished illustrations feature a variety of expressive animal characters whose kinesthetic expressions cheerfully depict many of the happenings.—Laura Scott, Farmington Community Library, MI
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From Booklist

Wagner and Pearl return in three episodes taking place on April Fools’ Day. In the first, Wagner is duped by one joke after another. In the second, he tries to learn to dance in gym class but ends up dejected, sitting on the sidelines while Pearl struts her stuff. In the third, he creates a prank to get the last laugh on his classmates. Alley’s expressive ink-and-watercolor illustrations portray Wagner’s shifting emotions with clarity and finesse. McMullen shows clearly why many children have mixed feelings about April Fools’ Day. A brightly illustrated book in the Pearl and Wagner beginning-reader series. Grades K-2. --Carolyn Phelan

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Dial (March 5, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803730853
• ISBN-13: 978-0803730854
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 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: #353,720 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kate McMullan is the author of many books for young readers, including I Stink!, winner of a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor; I'm Mighty; and Meg's Prairie Diary, a historical fiction trilogy set in St. Louis and Kansas in 1856. She has been fascinated by the Lewis and Clark Expedition since the age of ten, when an uncle told her about an ancestor who had gone on the expedition. That ancestor was sixteen-year-old George Shannon. Ms. McMullan lives in New York City and Sag Harbor, New York, with her husband and collaborator, noted illustrator Jim McMullan, their daughter, two cats, and a dog.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rascally Wagner, who is having the worst April Fools' Day ever, has a plan to make it the best!, June 5, 2009

By 

D. Fowler "Dragonfly77" (Vermont) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pearl and Wagner: One Funny Day (Dial Easy-to-Read) (Hardcover)

It was April first and the day didn't start off very well for Wagner. He didn't hear the alarm clock and he was late for school. Ms. Star wasn't going to be very happy with him, but there wasn't much he could do about that. When he was racing down the hallway, he ran into Pearl who told him Ms. Star was "roller-skating around the classroom." Wow, that would be something to see, but then she laughed and said "April fools!" Then when he got into class, Wagner was all uptight when Ms. Star told them to hand over their homework, something he hadn't done. He was frantic when she said, "April fools!" Not a good day, not a good day at all for Wagner.

Things didn't get much better. Mr. Fox the librarian got him. Mr. Milk the lunch man fooled him in the cafeteria. "Phooey! This is not my day!" The math test he thought was a joke was real. WAAAA! In gym class Mr. Jumper decided to have a "rainy-day dance contest." Well, you know who was a flop at dancing and everyone showed him up, especially that Lulu. Wagner's best move when he boogied on down was to fall "on his behind." During silent reading time Wagner claimed to be sick and was sent to the nurse. Now he had a big plan and this was going to be his BEST April fools day ever!

This book was ultra-cute and the adorable illustrations added just the right touch to this amusing hoodwinking April fools tale. Everyone has been "taken" at one point or another on April Fools' day and would just love to "have the last laugh." Wagner gets it and you'll just have to read the book to find out how this little rascally rat makes his own day!