Summer Camp Chapter Books

(3) 1-3 Mouse Scouts series. Energetic Tigerlily, shy Violet, and the other Mouse Scouts work as a team to earn the "Camp Out" badge (and find their lost scout leader) on their first-ever camping expedition. Short chapters are interspersed with amusing illustrations and excerpts from the Mouse Scout Handbook. With sweet and funny characters, not-too-scary danger, and whimsical mouse inventions, this third installment will thrill series fans and newbies alike.

Reviewer: Amy Seto Forrester

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by William Owl. This third Sam and Charlie story finds the boy-girl pals at Jewish sleep-away camp; Charlie's little sister, Sam Too, has a couple of small adventures at home. Just as in the previous books, the eight brief chapters combine Jewish education ("Think of cabin clean-up as shmirat ha'adamah") and just-plain fun (fire-truck foam!). Cartoony illustrations make camp look like a blast.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds. Stink heads to Shakespeare Camp over spring break (the only boy attending, it turns out). Stink's in it for the Shakespearean insults and swordplay, but he learns that there is also kissing in Shakespeare's plays. Stink won't have to kiss his "sometimes friend, most times enemy" Riley Rottenberger, will he?! Reynolds's illustrations capture all the theatrics in this spirited chapter-book introduction to Shakespeare.

Reviewer: Kari Allen

(4) 1-3 Amelia Bedelia Chapter Books series. Illustrated by Lynne Avril. Amelia Bedelia is bummed to be spending the summer at camp instead of lazing at home. But she befriends her cabin-mates, learns how to build a fire, stargazes, and surprises herself by having fun. Her literal (mis)interpretations of words often feel forced, though graduates of the easy readers should find this latest chapter-book entry appealing. Lively black-and-white illustrations break up the accessible text.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(2) 1-3 Illustrated by Emily Hughes. Their fourth outing (most recently Charlie & Mouse Even Better, rev. 5/19) takes the siblings into the Great Outdoors for a family camping trip...but first a "Boring" (the title of chapter 1) car ride. The three brief chapters that follow include a hike ("A hike! A hike! It was time for a hike!"), encounters with wildlife, and burnt marshmallows. The boys' sharp observations and imaginations contribute to the entertainment of their parents, themselves, and readers. What begins as Charlie's doldrums-fighting, ho-hum, what's-out-the-car-window story ("Once upon a time...there was a small white house near a great green mountain") ends with an epic battle between a dragon and a hawk. Amusing surprises appear at every turn (a pig in the woods?) along with straightforward and relatable expressions of ­emotion. Regarding their collapsed tent: "'That,' said Charlie, 'was a little bit scary.' 'Yes,' said Mouse. 'It was. But it was also a lot of fun.'" The parents give their kids space to play without intrusion (unless it's for food; at one point offstage Dad offers a granola bar, and who doesn't want to stop for French fries?), and Hughes's amusingly detailed but never-too-busy illustrations occasionally, unobtrusively indicate Mom and Dad's own story line.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2020

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Aurélie Grand. In this chapter-book graphic novel, Jay hopes to find Bigfoot on the Junior Ranger campout, even though his troopmates tease him for believing. Meanwhile, Sass, a female Sasquatch adopted by bears who forbid her to go near humans, anonymously pranks (somewhat dim-witted) Jay until a brief but meaningful encounter. The humor is amusing, and the visual storytelling is accessible to young readers.

Reviewer: Jessica Costello

(2) 1-3 Illustrated by Kevin Cornell. With a baby on the way, Lulu's parents send her to Camp Sisterhood to be a SIT (sister in training). Lulu is disrespected and outsmarted by her assigned "sibling"; she gets a new assignment, who adores her in spite of her attitude. Humorous situations and exaggerated characterizations, enlivened by expressive spot art, bring Camp Sisterhood to life while a brazenly intrusive narrator keeps everyone in check.

Reviewer: Julie Roach | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2018

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Matthew Cordell. Sibs Lucy and Sam (Gone Fishing) are off to the great outdoors again, this time camping with Grandpa. In rotating voices, poems in various forms--including list poems, free verse, a lament, and haiku--describe the sometimes scary but ultimately exciting campout. Cordell's buoyant illustrations are a natural accompaniment to the upbeat verse. An extensive "Provisioning for Poetry" section discusses poetic devices and forms.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen