“[A] slapstick story about the possible origin of April Fools’ Day” from the award-winning author of Shawn O’Hisser, the Last Snake in Ireland (Booklist).

Once upon a time in 1564, Charles IX, the king of France, ruled that the first day of the year would be January 1 instead of April 1. Those who forgot the change and celebrated New Year’s Day on April 1 were ridiculed by having fish thrown at them.

In the skilled hands of Peter Welling, this history takes on a hilarious dimension. In the French town of Bakonneggs, there exists a rivalry between the Mayor Melon de Plume, a pig, and a prankster rooster, Michael Le Soufflé. The mayor lacks a sense of humor and is annoyed to be disturbed from his slumber by Michael’s crowing laughter. He issues new laws (including a ban on all feathers), but the town continues, under the rooster’s leadership, to laugh and play.

Then one day, Michael posts a law, signed by the king, on the official oak tree: New Year’s Day will no longer be April 1. Melon rebels, and when he still celebrates April 1 as New Year’s Day, the king orders that he be pelted with fish until he comes to his senses. Undaunted, Melon scoops up the fallen fish and hosts a big party, starting an annual day of celebration we now know as April Fools’ Day.

Populated by a menagerie of animals and creatures real and imagined, including a crafty crew of gargoyles, Michael Le Soufflé and the April Fool is sure to keep readers young and old coming back to discover new laughs on every page.