April Fools' Day brings out the joker in Mud Flat's animal residents: George the fox breaks out his squirting lapel rose, Newt the gator tries the old dollar-on-a-string trick, a mole produces a note that she claims was left by space aliens. When young Matt and Zack congratulate themselves on seeing through crusty old Mrs. Beekley's party invitation, the joke's on them--the invitation was real, and they almost miss the party. The deadpan figures in Stevenson's splashy watercolor vignettes add to the fun; none of the pranks are harmful or mean, and often the would-be victims efficiently turn the tables. Tongue-in-cheek humor, delivered in deft and funny chapters.