ALA Booklist (Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 CST 2008)

Gilbert looks forward to tricking his classmates on April Fools' Day, but instead he falls for all their pranks, while every gag he attempts is a dud. Tired of being the butt of Lewis' jokes, Gilbert turns the tables by outsmarting him in a game of psychological warfare. Children will find it easy to sympathize with gullible yet sometimes cagy Gilbert, appearing here in the twelfth volume of the Gilbert and Friends series. And they'll enjoy studying the colorful illustrations for the many sight gags that go unmentioned in the text. A good picture book to share on this peculiar holiday.

Horn Book (Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2009)

Gilbert's thrilled about April Fool's Day--until he's the victim of a barrage of jokes. Determined to turn the tables, Gilbert cleverly warns main prankster Lewis about a trick "I've been saving tjust for you"; this leaves Lewis paranoid and vulnerable to everyone else's wiles. The well-composed illustrations hide several seek-and-find surprises.

School Library Journal (Fri May 01 00:00:00 CDT 2009)

K-Gr 3 Gilbert and his friends are back and ready to celebrate April Fool's Day. The book is filled with the tomfoolery that tickles children's funny bones: warnings of untied shoelaces, plastic spiders, and gummy worms in apples. The trouble begins when Lewis, Gilbert's nemesis, finds a ready target for his pranks in the bespectacled protagonist. He enjoys taunting Gilbert and plays a more mean-spirited trick than the others by placing an "I smell" sign on Gilbert's back on their way to lunch in the cafeteria. Gilbert is able to pay back Lewis by making him stew the entire afternoon waiting for a trick to be played on him. As the school day ends, Gilbert tells Lewis "Gotcha" and reveals there was no trick at all. The cartoon illustrations abound with visual tricks that observant viewers are sure to notice. DeGroat continues to show that she has a keen sense of classroom dynamics and the ability to connect with readers and their world. A popular choice for seasonal read-alouds. Maura Bresnahan, High Plain Elementary School, Andover, MA