Gone Camping: A Novel in Verse by Tamera Will Wissinger

Gone Camping: A Novel in Verse by Tamera Will Wissinger 

Blurb:

Hiking in the great outdoors, catching fish, watching the stars come out at night—camping is fun. Until it’s time to sleep. Then, Lucy wonders, what kinds of creatures lurk in the dark? With only her brother and grandpa as tent-mates, will Lucy be able to face her camping fears?
 
Filled with a variety of poetic forms—from aubade to haiku—as well as exuberant art and helpful writing tips about rhyme and rhythm, this entertaining companion to the award-winning Gone Fishing is packed with family humor and adventure. So grab a flashlight and get settled in to experience the joy of campfires, s’mores, and storytelling


This book is really great. I loved the drawings and the poems and it reminded me of the books my daughters loved most when they were small. The poems in those books made the texts special, they learned them by heart and already had a very large vocabulary at a young age. And what is more - they kept their love for language and literature and everything around it. I think that was also due to the fact that they learned that language and stories can be fun and that it is fun to play with the words and rhyme.

They would have loved this book about going camping either. We love to go camping and of course we had it all - the rustling leaves, the hedgehog coming to visit, the rats and mice - and I loved how all those fears were shown in the book and how a sleeping bag chant can help (okay, it doesn't help, when big bears get involved but that is something different, isn't it?) and other little things like that.
Different rhymes, different effects, on the whole a wonderful and adorable story that every child will love  - just beprepared that they might want to go camping afterwards!

For those who are a bit older or for the parents, there's a great part at the back of the book about the different kinds of rhymes with understandable explanations what they are, where in the book they were used and what they mean. Even if you don't want to become a poet, you may find that it is fun to play with words and rhyme along.

I really enjoyed reading this novel and loved its verses, I can definitely recommend this book!

★★★★