april fool's day

Today at work, a little girl came in with her mother. I was shelving nearby and overheard the mum say to the little one, "OK, now show Kate your card." This happens a lot - kids like to be the one who presents the librarian with their library card.

Then I heard Kate burst out laughing. "You got me!" She said. "I nearly made it through the day without being April Fool-ed!"

I came over, curious. "Look at this!" She said, showing me what at first looked like a scrap of blue construction paper. Then I realized that the little girl had made a fake "library card," even printing the library's logo from a computer, and cutting it out and gluing it to the paper. She'd written out "library card" and her name. Brilliant!

"Can I still get the book?" The girl asked, and we said, "Of course!"

"And, can I keep the card?" She asked, and again we said, "Of course!"

Were you April Fool-ed today? Or did you fool anyone?

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PS: No foolin, my friend and fellow writer Bill Conall scored a big one today! His novel, "The Rock In The Water" was shortlisted for the Stephen Leacock Memorial Award for Humour! He is up there with some big names, including Will Ferguson and William Deverell.

I was talking to Bill earlier - he called to tell us here at the library about being on cloud nine - and he said, "I said that if I were to make the shortlist, it would fulfill all my literary aspirations, so I guess everything from here on is anticlimactic." I'm thinking he's got bigger things ahead of him still.

Ask your local bookseller to bring in this book - it's a little-known gem.

Also - Bill started a blog last year, and has yet to do anything much with it. Leave a comment there and show him you're interested!