Arthur's April Fool

Arthur Adventure Series

by Marc Brown

This is a read along and fun filled package. Millions of fans agree: Arthur's hilarious adventures speak right to the heart of children everywhere.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Animals, Holiday, Magic, Family

32 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1982

About the author

Marc Tolon Brown is perhaps best known for his series of children's books about Arthur the aardvark, which was turned into an animated television show on PBS. Brown is a three-time Emmy Award winner, for his role on the television show inspired by his books.

He lives on Martha's Vineyard and in New York City with his wife, Laurie Krasny Brown. He has three children, sons Tolon and Tucker, and daughter Eliza. The names of his two sons have been hidden in all of the Arthur books except for one: Arthur's Tooth.

Reviews

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Arthur Read versus Binky Barnes: it's a familiar theme of Marc Brown's Arthur Adventure books. The rivalry would later be softened in the PBS television series, but Arthur and Binky had their battles before then. April Fool's Day is coming, and with it the school talent show, but Arthur can't get excited. He's afraid Binky, a huge, mean bully, is going to beat him up. At rehearsal for the talent show, Binky pushes Arthur around as usual, and Francine and Buster are helpless to stop him. How will Arthur be able to focus during his magic act tomorrow? He spends a restless night imagining what Binky might do. Arthur reads up on bodybuilding and fighting techniques, but he knows he can't hold his own against Binky.

Buster promises to assist Arthur during his act so he doesn't get nervous and forget his tricks, but Buster is sent to the principal after pulling an April Fool's prank on Mr. Ratburn, so that plan is out. At the show, when Arthur requests an audience volunteer, Binky hops onstage, and Arthur knows he's in for trouble. Binky just wants to disrupt the performance and laugh at Arthur when he messes up, which Arthur unhappily proceeds to do. But Arthur has different strengths than Binky, and he'll have a chance to finish his act on a high note and make Binky think twice about harassing him in the future. Can Arthur conjure up a trick to send Binky running for the exit whenever Arthur enters the room?

Marc Brown's books feel simple, but there's more to them than meets the eye. Arthur is at Binky's mercy as long as he tries to equal the bully's brawn, but it's another story when Arthur challenges him to a battle of wits. We also see in this book how good D.W. is at reading Arthur; his parents have no idea what's bothering him, but it's obvious to her. Their parents ignore D.W.'s statement that "He's worried about getting pulverized," but they should listen to her. A little sister is often more attuned to the details of her brother's life than parents are. Arthur's April Fool is a comeuppance tale with the old Marc Brown charm I've always loved, and I'll undoubtedly read it on many April Fool's Days to come.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this was going to be a cute, funny read for April Fool's Day and contain some prank fitting for the holiday. It wasn't at all what I expected and didn't hit the mark for me. I didn't really know how to review it because I wasn't crazy about what happened and didn't really think it captured the feel of the holiday.

It started with Arthur and Buster going into a joke shop, trying on crazy hair and ears and glasses. There were strips of images of them wearing all kinds of crazy things: Arthur with a faucet coming out of his forehead, Buster with the arrow headband going through his head, and wearing giant hands. But then the bullying aspect came in and that was the worst part of the book for me. Bullying has no place in April Fool's Day for me.

Arthur got a telescope that puts black ink around the eyes of whoever looks into it, and Buster got sneezing powder. But Arthur was worried because Binky wanted to beat him up. It was funny though that Arthur said: "Picture Hong Kong. Now double it" in describing Binky and told Buster that Binky kept threatening to "punch him out." Not funny, but the phrase is worded amusingly.

While Arthur was practicing, Binky stole his pen. Funnily enough, Francine told him to pick on someone his own size, like Godzilla. The image showed the teacher standing behind the curtain, peeking out and seeing the whole thing. I expected her to jump in and put a stop to it, but she never did. I kept waiting for her to come into the story and get onto Binky, but she didn't. Why, why I ask, have her watching the bullying and not do a thing about it?? What was the illustrator thinking? And it's not like the text mentioned her at all.

At dinner that night poor Arthur had no appetite even for dessert, and left early. His dad wondered what was wrong and DW said he was worried about getting pulverized. I thought his parents would step in and demand to know what was going on and do something about the bully. But his home said maybe he's been watching too many space movies! What?! That's her reaction to learning he's afraid to get beat up? She blamed it on a movie, like he has an overreactive imagination! That's why kids don't tell parents things, because they're not believed and the parents don't really care. Ohhh, terrible reaction.

It was funny though, that DW asked if she could have his room after he gets pulverized. He told her to beat it, and it was a typical little sister thing to do.

Arthur looked crazy though, with a white tank top tucked into shorts that were pulled up to his chest. He was curling iron and had these thick muscular legs and looked all hairy and creepy. There were posters and magazines with these big muscular, body builder human men, wearing briefs and nothing else. Whoa! And if this is a book with all-animal characters, why does he have humans all over his wall?

Arthur had nightmares of being attacked by a big Binky monster, and poor Arthur had the sheets up over his nose, his eyes closed and looking so scared. I felt so bad for him!

The only real April Fool's element was that Francine gave him a cookie that turned out to be fake. The image showed the classroom full of fake snakes and spiders, and a ring that squirted water. For the talent show, Arthur needed a volunteer and Binky volunteered, crazily enough. I didn't understand what happened after that. Arthur had him tear up paper an put in the hat. But rabbits came out and everyone laughed. Then flowers came out of his sleeve. Why did Binky volunteer if he wasn't going to prank Arthur? And how did those things go wrong?

But Arthur decided to get Binky back by saying he was going to saw him in half. He had someone bring out his saw and a bucket to collect the blood. Pretty gruesome for a kid's book.

The illustrator had Binky look sad in the hallway later, with ears and eyebrows downcast and I actually felt bad for him. That shouldn't happen. He should have been mad and not sad and then we would have felt anger towards him. Arthur told him about his best trick, the telescope that lets you see new things, but you have to know the secret words. Arthur asked for a pen to write it down, so he got his pen back, crazily enough. Glad he got it back, but it was a crazy thing to do. Arthur told him to go home and hold the paper up to the mirror. It showed Binky with two black circles around his eyes, holding up a paper that said April Fool. He looked so sad that I felt bad for him again! We should not feel sympathy for a bully who threatened to beat Arthur up! He shouldn't have looked so sad.

I feel this centered around bullying too much and didn't have the joviality and good-natured jokes and tricks that April Fool's Day should have. At least it had Arthur beat the bully in the end, which should always happen, but I didn't enjoy the story. Also, as I'm finding in these books, the covers are really colorful and bright and Arthur is adorable in a newer-style illustration, and then in the book the illustrations are old and sketchy like a drawing and the characters look terrible. I can't stand it. The colors are pale and not pretty and Arthur's head is long and they all look really weird.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was ok. In the end, it wasn't quite as cute as I was hoping. It was lacking a little in something, but it worked to celebrate April Fools with, because there aren't many for April Fools.

I liked the humor, which this series is pretty good at:
‘“Who is Binky Barnes?” asked Buster.
“Picture King Kong. Now double it,” said Arthur. “He keeps threatening to punch me out.”’

‘“Pick on someone your own size,” called Francine. “Like Godzilla!”’

It also captured the relationship between siblings:
‘Haven’t you ever heard of knocking?” asked Arthur.
“After you get pulverized, can I have your room?” she asked.
“Beat it, D.W.”’

Arthur is barely eating supper, and didn’t even want dessert. When his dad asks what’s wrong, his sister says “he’s worried about getting pulverized.” His mom says maybe he’s been watching too many outer space movies. I don’t know what outer space has to do with someone being worried they’re gonna get beat up. Idk what parent wouldn't react to a sentence like that, and wouldn't automatically think their child is being bullied and that someone is planning to beat them up.
I was disappointed that the parents didn’t realize something was wrong with their son, and didn’t step in and ask what was wrong. Clearly something was going on.
We flip the page to find a new scene, the whole matter forgotten.

Something else that was disappointing and also confusing in the end, is that when Arthur and his friends are practicing magic tricks for the April Fools assembly, when Binky takes Arthur's favorite pen and Arthur says watch it he responds with "why don't you make me." There's a teacher behind the curtain who's seeing it all. She doesn't step in and demand that Binky give the pen back. I thought this would play a role later in the book, that the teacher would get onto him, but it never happens. Unless she's as scared of Binky as Arthur is or something? That's about right, though, that adults usually don't bother when they see bullying.
During the magic show there's kids peeking around the curtains, seemingly afraid of Binky. After he runs off stage, the kids and even Mr. Ratburn appear to be applauding it. It would have been a better ending to see everyone come together and put him in his place. Like the teachers actually getting onto him.

The kids play pranks on each other during class, and Arthur is part of the April Fools magic show, which is an odd thing to do on April Fools. I’ve never known the day to be celebrated like that
Arthur sees Binky in the front row and thinks ‘this was going to be even worse than he thought.’
Arthur has some flub-ups, so I was glad he got the last laugh. He asks for his saw and a bucket to collect the blood and Binky screams and steps back off the stage. Although in the illustrations, Binky is running off the stage, not falling off it backward like the text implies.
Arthur isn’t done there, though. Even when Binky is fleeing, looking embarrassed, and passes Arthur and his friends in the hall, he asks him to look into his telescope to see things he’s never seen before. He points it at Francine, and she’s covering herself with her tongue stuck out in a disgusted face, as if he could see through her clothes or something! Arthur tells him he has to know the secret words. He said they’re so secret he has to write them down backwards. He asks for a pen, and is able to get his lucky pen back that Binky stole. He tells him to hold the paper in the mirror so he can read the words.

Buster tells him it’s his best trick because he didn’t get pulverized and he made Binky disappear. When Francine asks what he wrote, we flip the page to find…
Arthur wrote April Fool. And on top of that, he’s got black circles around both eyes. So Arthur definitely got the last laugh that April Fools.
I did feel bad because of the sad look he had on his face. It would have been better if he had looked mad, because I don’t wanna feel bad for the bad guy!

At times it really hits you how weird these characters are. I never could really figure out what Arthur and his family are supposed to be. He looks pretty weird when he's lifting weights, like a little old man. He has no neck, and it's pretty odd-looking.

This had the classic April Fools prank items and old-school things, like Cupid's arrow, fake vomit, sneezing powder, googly eyes, smoke bombs, rubber worms, a ring that squirts water, fake gum, cans that fling confetti out, fake snakes, etc.

Part of the problem was that the humor didn't carry through the whole book. It would have been better if it was funny throughout the whole thing. Not as good as others I've read in this series.

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Arthur Read versus Binky Barnes: it's a familiar theme of Marc Brown's Arthur Adventure books. The rivalry would later be softened in the PBS television series, but Arthur and Binky had their battles before then. April Fool's Day is coming, and with it the school talent show, but Arthur can't get excited. He's afraid Binky, a huge, mean bully, is going to beat him up. At rehearsal for the talent show, Binky pushes Arthur around as usual, and Francine and Buster are helpless to stop him. How will Arthur focus during his magic act tomorrow? He spends a restless night imagining what Binky might do. Arthur reads up on bodybuilding and fighting techniques, but he knows he can't hold his own against Binky.

Buster promises to assist Arthur during his act so he doesn't get nervous and forget his tricks, but Buster is sent to the principal after pulling an April Fool's prank on Mr. Ratburn, so that plan is out. At the show, when Arthur requests an audience volunteer, Binky hops onstage, and Arthur knows he's in for trouble. Binky just wants to disrupt the performance and laugh at Arthur when he messes up, which Arthur unhappily proceeds to do. But Arthur has different strengths than Binky, and he'll have a chance to finish his act on a high note and make Binky think twice about harassing him in the future. Can Arthur conjure up a trick to send Binky running for the exit whenever Arthur enters the room?

Marc Brown's books feel simple, but there's more to them than meets the eye. Arthur is at Binky's mercy as long as he tries to equal the bully's brawn, but it's another story when Arthur challenges him to a battle of wits. We also see in this book how good D.W. is at reading Arthur; his parents have no idea what's bothering him, but it's obvious to her. Their parents ignore D.W.'s statement that "He's worried about getting pulverized," but they should listen to her. A little sister is often more attuned to the details of her brother's life than parents are. Arthur's April Fool is a comeuppance tale with the old Marc Brown charm I've always loved, and I'll undoubtedly read it on many April Fool's Days to come.

[theperksofbeingmarissa ;)]

A silly children's book about bullies. I'm not sure why people are saying bullying is an inappropriate topic for children... Bullying, quite literally, occurs everywhere, including school.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Binky Barnes is one mean guy. I like how the crew really stuck together in this one. It's interesting how in one scene in the book, a teacher witnesses bullying from behind a curtain during a talent show rehearsal, yet does absolutely nothing about it. Strange. I wonder if Marc Brown is saying something with that vignette. Not a bad little read. Some themes make this book more age appropriate for a child between the ages of 6 - 8.

[Molly · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a huge fan of the television series, I was greatly disappointed at the lazy and sub-par writing of the books. The illustrations are very poorly done as well (especially if you have older editions of the books). Not good. just watch the show; it's on at seven on PBS every morning.

[Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

POSSIBLE SPOILERS

I STAY VAGUE but the bones of the story are laid out enough to count as spoilers. There’s no way to explain what’s wrong with the book without doing so.


Not thrilled. Ok so I always loved Arthur as a show. And I work with a group of 15 5-8 yr olds. What I expected was a funny story about April fools. What we got was a story about Arthur being bullied and his group in turn responds to the bullying by keeping it a secret from the adults (even though one picture shows a teacher seeing the bully steal from Arthur and DOES NOTHING) and DW tell their parents he’s being threatened when Arthur refuses to say what’s wrong and walks off. And the parents do NOTHING. I’m sorry but you get told someone is making your kid fear he will be beaten up and you don’t even do so much as try to talk to your kid about it?

Past all that. The kids respond by bullying him back, humiliating him? And then PRETENDING to include him only to later prove to have played a mean joke on him.


I get bullying is wrong period. But bullies tend to be kids who have been deeply hurt and/or deeply need to be shown kindness and have zero clue how to gain acceptance to they reject first. Teaching kids they way to deal w a bully is to be a bully is NOT helpful. My kids and I had a good convo about what each person did wrong (including the adults), how they could have done better, and ways that we can be kind to bullies while also protecting ourselves so it wasn’t a loss but man, I was disappointed in this one.

[Anne Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another book I obtain from my local library's used book store. These are passed along to my grandchildren so they, too, can find joy in reading.

I'm not sure what I want to think about this book. The idea of pulling pranks on other children and humiliating one, even if he is a bully, strikes me as something I'm not quite sure is appropriate for young children. With discussion from a parent, this can be a worthwhile book, though.

The illustrations are nicely done, and the story well-written, even if I am a bit uncomfortable with the plot. With adult supervision and a good exchange of personal values, it can be a worthwhile story as well.

[Julie Ditton · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are looking for a cute April Fool's Day story for Preschoolers, this one will not fit the bill. But if you want a story about dealing with bullies, then you have found a great book. Binky Barnes is meaner in these early books than he was on the television show. Skip this book on April first, but if you need to deals with bullies than this will be one to request from the library.

I would give this book 1or 2 stars for the holiday but four stars for the bullying topic. I split the difference and gave it three.

[Katie Bruff · Rating 5 out of 5]

April fools day is coming up tomorrow just around the corner. Buster stole Arthur's favorite pen. He was upset all that night, he couldn't even eat his dinner. Everyone in the class the next day was playing jokes on each other. Arthur's magic show went totally wrong because Binky decided to ruin it. Later, Arthur got Binky back with an even better joke. April fools day was a success for everyone after all.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Super old book! From 1986! The book itself was alright. I have always enjoyed Arthur growing up so this was more of a reread from childhood, but it sure is different from the Arthur series nowadays! The illustrations are quite different from the modern ones and I was surprised how huge Binky is in the book! It made me chuckle in the end, but it also shocked me a bit on how no one took Arthur seriously, especially his parents, when he said how Binky wanted to punch him.

[Kels B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the TV series when I was younger... And still do!
Whilst reading this, it felt like I was back home watching the show after school, I found it comforting.
The only thing that bothered me was the illustrations, Binky in particular, but I guess that to be expecting when it was first published in 1983.

[Katt Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arthur has bully troubles. It's also April Fool's Day. How he copes with this problem, by combining both the bully and the fool is fun and clever and reminds me of all the reasons I liked Arthur back when I was reading these books to my kids. This was a fun book to read all over again as part of this summer challenge.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arthur is being harassed and bullied by Binky, who threatens to pulverize him. Arthur is pretty worried on how to deal with this bullying, and still focus on his magic show for the school's assembly. Quick wit and fast thinking saves the day, and Arthur from being pulverized and giving Binky his comeuppance.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arthur was worried about Binky Barnes who bullied him. On April Fool's Day Arthur found a way to get the upper hand in a funny way. Cute story children will relate to; fun illustrations.

[Marilyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Silly.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute book that I read with my granddaughter. I always loved reading the Arthur books with my children and now I get to enjoy reading them with my granddaughter.

[Grandma M]

It's ok. Still love D.W.

[Jeremiah Murphy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not enough Mr. Ratburn.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's been a while since I've read an Arthur book, so I can't remember if they are all this mean.

Can anyone suggest a fun April Fools book for preschoolers?

[Mari]

arthur shows binky his kaleidoscope and binky says he can't see anything. so arthur gives him a message saying april fool.

the characters are drawn in their early depictions... binky looks scary!

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good one before April

[Diana Valdivia-Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book to read and teach students an important lesson over bullying. I an teach students about bullying and magic tricks. The pages are glossy and full page bleed. I like this book in which it was made into a TV series.

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

As we get into the 1980s, Marc Brown continues to find his voice with his Arthur series (launched in the previous decade, the disco era of the 1970s). Set around April Fool's Day, Arthur meets the resident bully, Binky Barnes, who threatens to pound him into paste. What will Arthur do? He comes up with a creative way to deal with Binky that doesn't involve getting physical.

Many of the early Arthur books are being judged poorly by people used to the PBS animated series launched in 1996. Many also believe the series came first, convinced these books came later and utterly trash them for having bad art and bad writing. That really isn't fair to do.

Anyway, back to the book review: people used to seeing the character of Binky Barnes from the PBS series (depicted more as a buffoon) may be surprised to see him here as a real menace. I repeat - this was written years before the TV series was even conceived. Marc Brown is still quite early in his career; however, the artwork is showing a marked improvement from Arthur Goes to CampArthur Goes to Camp and Arthur's ValentineArthur's Valentine.

All in all, Arthur's April Fool is a good entry in the Arthur series. Try not to judge it harshly if you're used to the PBS series.

[Jamal Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my opinion I thought this book had a good story line. The illustrations were nice and went well with the story. There's a little description of the book when you open the book on the left side and at the end of the book there's a description of the author. On the back of the book there's pictures of of other Arthur books that you'd like to read if you're into Arthur. The text in the book is bolded black except for one page because it's a dark page so the text is white and on every page the text is sort of big.

This book starts off with Arthur and his friend Buster in the joke shop getting ready for Aprils fools' day. However Arthur is distracted by a bully named "Binky Barnes" because he is afraid of getting beat up. There's a school April fool's assembly but Arthur is nervous of messing up. Buster says he would help Arthur out but gets in trouble and gets sent to the principal's office so Arthur has to do it alone. When Arthur is on stage he ask for a volunteer and Binky goes up. When Arthur's trick doesn't go the way he wants he ends of scaring him by saying he was going to saw him in half and Binky quickly gets off stage. After the talent show Arthur tells Binky to take a telescope home and when he looks through it read the magic words that's on the paper inside it. When Bikny gets home he opens the paper and on it reads "April Fool's".

[Ronyell · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Arthur’s April Fool” is another one of Marc Brown’s earlier “Arthur” books and this time, Arthur has his hands full when he has to deal with the school bully, Binky Barnes during the April fool’s Day assembly. “Arthur’s April fool” is a clever story about how to handle with bullies in a nonviolent way.

Marc Brown has done it again with both the illustrations and the story of everyone’s lovable aardvark. Marc Brown once again makes the characters have animal heads and human bodies, making the animal characters look more human and act more human. Marc Brown’s story is creative and witty, as he shows that violence is not the answer to bullying and that good thinking in these types of situations always prevails at the end.

Arthur’s April’s Fools” is a clever book about how to deal with bullies and getting into the spirit of April’s Fools Day. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up due to the scene where Arthur talks about collecting blood from Binky.

From my Epinions review:
http://www99.epinions.com/review/Arth...

[Hannah Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arthur’s April Fool by Marc Brown is based off the television series Arthur. I would recommend this book for ages for to five depending on reading level and comprehension. I read these books when I was four because I loved the television show. This book in particular is about April Fools Day and what Arthur went through preparing for his magic show act while he was scared that Binky Barnes was going to pulverize him. After worrying and feeling sick to his stomach Arthur ends up playing a trick on Binky Barnes; he has two black eyes and doesn’t know until he gets home. Binky is considered the bully, so the fact that Arthur was able to trick him was a big deal. The illustrations in this book are very detailed and well put together. This series is more detailed than many children’s books when it comes to the illustrations, in my opinion.

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Arthrur's April Fool is one of the many Arthur books that children love. This particular book is when Arthur presents April Fool's jokes at the assembly at school. Arthur is afraid of the bully, Binky Barnes, who is a lot bigger than Arthur is. In the end, Arthur plays a trick on Binky.

Reading Level: 2nd- 5th grade

Genre: Picture Book

Topic: April Fools

Use: Independent Reading, Read Aloud

Social Issues: Bullying

Literary Terms: This story portrays a man vs. man conflict. This conflict is between Arthur and the bully, Binky Barnes.

Text/images: Children will love these illustrations because they are similar to what they see on the Arthur TV show.

[Carly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this Arthur story because I think it addresses an important issue. It is about Arthur's preparation for the April Fool's Day Talent Show and how he deals with a bully. Kids love Arthur books and I think they will all relate to Arthur in this story because they can all remember being bullied or bullying someone at some point in their life. It would be a good book to read during a bullying unit or if you were having multiple student conflicts within your classroom.