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| Image by Brenda @ It's A Beautiful Life |
"Mix a little foolishness with your prudence:
It's good to be silly at the right moment."
HORACE
We're into our second week of the 'pressing my books into service' series. This is my little contribution here in blogland as a way to help create community in isolation. If you are arriving in this series mid-stream, you can find the earlier posts by clicking HERE or on the Tab above: Press My Books Into Service.
When I was a girl, my mom liked to play little April Fool's jokes on her kids. In the day when rural residents had party lines (where three or more neighbours shared the same telephone line), my mom was able to call our own number, and it would ring at our house. She'd supposedly answer, then call one of us down from our room with the pretext that a schoolmate was calling before school. I recall my siblings and I being fooled more than once by that prank. As kids, I don't think we were amused at being caught out yet again, for we never remembered from year to year.
Alas, I have no pranks for you today, but I am pressing into service one of my long time favourite children's storybooks—one that has plenty of crazy fun and zany full-colour pictures—to add a little lightheartedness to your April Fool's Day.
Alas, I have no pranks for you today, but I am pressing into service one of my long time favourite children's storybooks—one that has plenty of crazy fun and zany full-colour pictures—to add a little lightheartedness to your April Fool's Day.
April 1st
The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate The Wash (1980)
by Trinka Hakes Noble and pictures by Steven Kellogg
A ho-hum school trip to the farm ends in mayhem when Jimmy's pet boa constrictor gets loose in the hen house. I bet that farmer doesn't let a busload of school kids ever visit his farm again.
Mom: "How was your class trip to the farm?"
Girl: "Oh. . .boring. . .kind of dull. . .until the cow started crying."
Mom: "A cow. . .crying?"
Girl: "Yeah, you see, a haystack fell on her."
Mom: "But a haystack doesn't just fall over."
Girl: "It does if a farmer crashes into it with his tractor."
Mom: "Oh, come on, a farmer wouldn't do that."
Girl: "He would if he were too busy yelling at the pigs to get
off our school bus."
Mom: "What were the pigs doing on the bus?"
Girl: "Eating our lunches" . . .
If you want to know the rest of the story,
you can find a YouTube narration HERE
* * *
Wishing you a day that's just a little crazy and fun.
💙
Heart Hugs,
Brenda
xox
Your mother's prank reminded me of my beloved and missed grandfather. He would call every year on April Fool's and my mom would call my brother or I to the phone. Grandpa would tell us school was cancelled because of a snow day and we'd get very excited. He'd let the excitement build for a few moments, yell "April Fool's!" and then hang up. I can still feel the disappointment, lol. Snow in April was par for the course in northern Michigan, so we never questioned it. Nor did we remember from year to year, lol. He cracked himself up regularly, and I cheerfully passed his corny jokes down to my sons. I can't wait to hear them pass them down to their someday children. Love is the gift that keeps on giving. Stay safe! :)
ReplyDeleteShani, Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your own April Fool's stories. Sounds like your Grandpa was quite a tease. You mention snow in April -- we had snow the last two days and it's -16C here this morning. I'd definitely call that an April Fool's prank. Be safe!
DeleteAlways loved that children’s book...a favorite in my classroom. My mother never played cute April Fool’s jokes like that. It was more of a “Look! Your laces are untied.” Lame. Very.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun story! I dont think anyone has the heart for April 1st jokes here.
ReplyDeleteI'm not familiar with that book - I tend to avoid snakes of any kind, even in illustrations. It does sound cute, though. April Fool's day passed without much marking this year, although I've been known to play tricks on my children in the past.
ReplyDeleteLorrie, I find your comment most interesting. Like you I've always had an aversion to snakes, but that feeling never ever clicked in when I saw this book (a friend had recommended it years ago). I just saw the silliness of the story and the boa never really registered as a snake in my mind. Too funny.
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