April Fool!

Viking Easy-to-Read

by Harriet Ziefert, Chris L. Demarest (Illustrator)

On April 1, Will tells his friends how he once saw a bike-riding elephant who sang through his trunk while juggling six bags of junk.

Genres: Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2000

About the author

Harriet Ziefert 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.

For many years, Ziefert was an elementary school teacher. She taught most grades from kindergarten to fifth grade. "I liked it," she said, but she stopped teaching when she had her own sons. When her children were older, Ziefert wanted "a bigger arena" for her work. She went to work at a publishing company, Scholastic in New York City, developing materials for teacher's guides for kindergarten language arts and social studies programs.

"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.

Reviews

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Silly rhyming tale about an elephant on a bike. The narrative is short and good for beginning readers, but the story is utterly forgettable. Still, it may entertain beginning readers and inspire them to tell tall tales on April Fools' Day.

The watercolor illustrations feature cartoonish children with expressive faces and humorous images of the silly anthropomorphic elephant.

[Jana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kids always get a big kick out of playing tricks and making up crazy stories on the first day of April. The little boy, Will, tells all of his friends a fantastic tale about an elephant he saw on his way to school. Fun, colorful illustrations and rhyming text make this a book that would be fun to share with beginning readers.

[Ina · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this 1/2 reader with bright bold illustrations a young boy spins a tall tale for his classmates, illustrating another aspect of April Fools'. I had a relatively small audience, so it didn't matter that this is a smaller format 1/2 reader (beginning chapter book). My story time audience loved this one and I found a really good April Fool finger play at http://www.theholidayzone.com which fit perfectly.

[Alyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

My son picked out this book not knowing what it is all about. He doesn't understand April Fool yet so when we read this book, he kept telling me that it wasn't possible for the events in the book to have occurred. He still liked the book though and he had a few giggles here and there throughout the book.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

My children absolutely adore this book. Reading literature is so important to the development of a child's mind, and I cannot think of thing I would rather do then sit down to read to them in the evenings. Imagination and growth are so vital in those so young.

[Cws]

JEAR1-Zie