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Barnyard Fun

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When Sheep found out it was April One, he said, “It’s time to have some fun!” Sheep set his alarm an hour ahead. It woke up Rooster in his bed. Sheep plays April Fool’s jokes on Rooster, Dog, Pig and Cow. Then Horse decides to play a trick on Sheep-and the farm animals have the biggest laugh of all!

20 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 5, 2013

14 people are currently reading
47 people want to read

About the author

Maureen Wright

29 books35 followers

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5 stars
67 (29%)
4 stars
82 (35%)
3 stars
61 (26%)
2 stars
18 (7%)
1 star
3 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
Profile Image for ☼Bookish in Virginia☼ .
1,318 reviews67 followers
May 7, 2013
BARNYARD FUN is a good read-aloud with charming illustrations. I'd say it's for children in the 2.5 to 6 year old range.

The story centers on April Fools silliness. Old Sheep plays pranks and in the end has his comeuppance.

What makes BARNYARD FUN fun, besides Paul Ratz de Tagyos adorable illustrations, is Maureen Wright's great rhymes. They totally work -- although I will note that I had to practice on the last few to get them to roll smoothly off my tongue. You see, after the point where Horse takes over the story, the rhythm changes, and the text becomes a little bit more complicated and less easy to read aloud--at least for me.

Definitely recommend this as a quick simple read to share with younger children. You can name the animals and talk about them; and you can easily use this book to teach the TREAT-OTHERS-AS-YOU-WOULD-LIKE-TO-BE-TREATED lesson.

Pam T~
Profile Image for Aaron Wyckoff.
Author 1 book
July 17, 2013
A cute, fun read with fairly simple but well-drawn and humorous illustrations. The layout of text and illustrations work well together, with some spreads having several of each interspersed. The simple rhyming text will engage even fairly young readers. While I always question books that glorify performing pranks, the ones in this book are harmless, and sheep does receive his just desserts at the end.
Profile Image for Shelli.
5,167 reviews57 followers
August 19, 2013
Sheep has been looking forward to/and planning for April Fools for sometime. He can't wait to start his day of trickery, which often times leaves him the only one laughing. By the end of the day karma rears its head and the barnyard animals retaliate with their own April Fools.

A fun read aloud for young children that is guaranteed to get laughs no matter what day of the year.
124 reviews
June 20, 2019
April Fool's on the farm

A sheep plays April Fool's jokes on his animal friends. Eventually an April Fool's joke is played on him. The animals are colorful with cute expressions. I cannot write that my kids or grandkids liked this book because they are older. I think young ones would enjoy hearing it read to them. I also think the book would be good for language development.
Profile Image for Mrs. Walker Reads.
59 reviews2 followers
March 26, 2021
I’ve always enjoyed sharing this silly book with my students on April Fools. Barnyard Fun is an enjoyable book for younger readers with rhyming text and guaranteed laughs! Sheep is having fun playing harmless little tricks on all of his barnyard friends. Feeling quite proud of himself, he lets his guard down and doesn’t realize that his friends are working together to play a trick on him! Will sheep fall for it? You’ll have to read this book to find out!
Profile Image for Elizabeth Edwards.
5,548 reviews9 followers
March 14, 2020
i never realized there would be a book about April 1st? April Fools Day?? i mean i can imagine there would be ... but to find i think like 3 different ones all at once was fun. i will review this now. so fun. great illustrations. well done!! so many great kiddie reads lately. check them out!!
Profile Image for Becky Barnett.
237 reviews5 followers
October 11, 2017
A quick and funny book that I read as a bedtime story for my 4 year old daughter. We enjoyed the silliest of the story and how the sheep ended up getting April Fools turned around on him.
Profile Image for Rachael Ashak-Benson.
358 reviews20 followers
November 16, 2017
Very cute and funny!

Very cute and funny! Had to explain to my almost four year old what April Fool's Day is before reading.
Definitely worth the download! We loved it!!! :)
Profile Image for Donna Mork.
2,137 reviews12 followers
February 26, 2018
After playing tricks all day on his friends, a sheep gets a haircut from the horse. He cuts him into a poodle shape. So the April fools was on him.
143 reviews2 followers
March 21, 2018
Sheep is up to NO good when he pulls lots of April Fools pranks on his barnyard companions. Kids loved this one.
Profile Image for Elizabeth.
2,319 reviews56 followers
April 23, 2018
Sheep plays April Fool jokes on Rooster, Dog, Pig, and Cow. But the last laugh is Sheep when Horse decides to give Sheep a dose of his own medicine.
Very funny!
3 reviews
March 7, 2020
Awesome for a 4 year old who is just starting to read

My best friend who has 2 baby brothers and her new born sister and brother her mom just had two more.
Profile Image for Rose Haskins.
816 reviews5 followers
February 28, 2025
Funny

April fools can be fun when pulling small tricks on family and friends. But just remember, they can pull gags on you too.
Profile Image for Julie.
107 reviews3 followers
March 20, 2017
The expressions on the barnyard animals are too funny in this one, and make the whole book.
Profile Image for Heidi-Marie.
3,855 reviews88 followers
April 2, 2014
Silly, as one would expect. Cute pictures. You don't get many April Fool's books, so this is a good addition. I'm not a fan of playing tricks on others, even if they're harmless. I could tell the sheep was going to get a payback, but didn't see how. That was funny--and nice to see justice served. Too bad this didn't come sooner for Elizabeth's family storytime.

Worth considering for the farm summer theme if only for a book that will make the kids laugh.

4/2/14 Not bad. They loved the ending. I had a less responsive crowd today, so it was hard to tell what they thought of the rest of the story.
Profile Image for Jim.
121 reviews16 followers
April 25, 2013
Barnyard Fun is a cute, humorous story that preschool-age kids should enjoy. The sheep thought it was great fun to play April Fool's Day practical jokes on his fellow barnyard animals, but turnabout is fair play, as the sheep soon learned. The rhyming text and the colorful illustrations work together perfectly to tell the story and keep a youngster's attention to the end of the short book. The vocabulary was very simple and appropriate for the story's intended audience.

If there's a lesson to be learned by kids, it's that playing imaginative tricks on their friends is fun, but payback time will come!
Profile Image for Melanie Hetrick.
4,629 reviews51 followers
October 17, 2015
When sheep realizes it's April 1, April Fool's Day, he plans on having fun. He plays connect the dots with the cows spots; he tricks the dog who wants to be fed and he plays a mean prank on the pig with an artificial chocolate cake. Horse has an idea and offers Sheep a shearing as Farmer hadn't gotten to it yet. As Horse shears Sheep, the other animals begin to giggle and laugh. When done with shearing, the farm no longer has a sheep but has gained a poodle.
Profile Image for Marissa Elera.
1,369 reviews38 followers
August 1, 2013
This is seriously funny stuff. The build up and structure of this zany book about April Fools Day is excellent. The rhyming format is not. I feel that the verse is distracting and not organic. But the pranks! They are funny! And when Sheep gets a taste of his own medicine at the end, its clear we've got a good picture book. Less rhymes, more funny - that's my recommendation.
Profile Image for Barbara.
1,152 reviews
October 29, 2013
This one was just plain silly fun. Sheep gets it into his head that he needs to play April Fool's jokes on everyone in the barnyard. The animals get frustrated with him and pull an April Fool's prank of their own. Good hearted fun and silly enough for an April Fool's storytime. Pair this with Sneaky Sheep by Chris Monroe. I had no idea sheep were this clever!


Author 1 book89 followers
December 14, 2013
This is a silly book about April Fool's Day and the antics that one sheep pulls on his friends. He ends up getting his comeuppance at the end, which is gratifying for the reader because the sheep does get somewhat annoying throughout the book. The rhyming is fun, and the story is silly. Good for ECE level readers.
Profile Image for Ina.
1,272 reviews15 followers
April 2, 2014
Bouncy rhyming text tells the story of sheep having fun on April 1 playing pranks on all of the other farm animals. He sets rooster's alarm ahead so he wakes extra early and replaces dog's canned treats with pop out snakes among other tricks. The illustrations are bright and fun. The animals do get their revenge on sheep at the end. Storytime audience approved.
Profile Image for babyhippoface.
2,443 reviews144 followers
January 16, 2014
April Fools Day books are hard to find. Especially good ones. This isn't the greatest ever, but it's pretty darn cute, and I'm confident kids will get a kick out of it. This is going on my list of books to read on those horrible years when April 1 falls on a {{sigh}} school day.
Profile Image for Tracie.
1,957 reviews
May 2, 2013
It's hard to find April Fool's for storytime that smaller kids understand. I think they would enjoy and find this one hilarious.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews

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