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5 Camping Themed Books for Kids

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You know summer is here when you start to see RVs, boats, and cars loaded down with camping supplies heading down the highway. Whether you’re camping close to home or planning a bigger trip further away, here are some books to help introduce your kids to camping before they actually get there. From cooking to activities to setting up the tent, these books are sure to cover everything your child needs to know.
Cooking On A Stick: Campfire Recipes for Kids by Linda White tells kids everything they need to know about cooking over a fire. From chili to popcorn, this book is filled with old favourites in recipes that even a novice can cook. White also introduces kids to the basics of building a fire and discusses campfire safety. Beautiful illustrations accompany the recipes. Paperback. Gibbs Smith, 2000.
Kids Camp!: Activities for the Backyard or Wilderness by Laurie Carlson is a great book full of ideas for things to do while camping. Young campers will learn more about their environment, including insects, animals, and plants, and have fun while doing so. There are even ideas for rainy days. And if you can’t make it camping this summer, many of these ideas could be done in your backyard. Paperback. Chicago Review Press, 1995.
Toasting Marshmallows: Camping Poems by Kristine O’Connell George is a beautiful book of poetry that captures the spirit of camping for children. George turns every little camping moment into something memorable with her spirited, evocative verse, accompanied by Kate Kiesler’s vivid paintings. This book will help get young campers excited about camping—or remember the little things they enjoyed about their camping trip. Hardcover. Clarion Books, 2001.
S is for S’mores: A Camping Alphabet by Helen Foster James takes readers on an alphabetical tour of everything camping-related. From national parks to famous conservationists, camping snacks to camping equipment, James has it all covered in this book. Informational sidebars accompany James’ poetry to give readers more information about each topic discussed. Hardcover. Cherry Lake Publishing, 2007.
When We Go Camping by Margriet Ruurs follows one family on their camping trip, teaching children about what happens while camping and offering information about wildlife that campers might encounter. Each story had a hidden animal and tracks curving onto the next page. Beautiful artwork accompanies the story. Paperback. Tundra Books, 2004.
Of course, children may also enjoy going camping with their favourite literary friends in books like:
·       Scaredy Squirrel Goes Camping by Melanie Watt
·       Curious George Goes Camping by H. A. Rey
·       Olivia Goes Camping by Alex Harvey
·       Fred and Ted Go Camping by Peter Eastman (aka Dr. Suess)
·       Just Me and My Dad by Mercer Meyer
·       Amelia Bedelia Goes Camping by Peggy Parish
Have you taken your children camping? What was their favourite camping memory?

This post contains affiliate links. If you want to buy any of the books mentioned above, click through to amazon.ca and you can buy directly. Any small profits from the affiliate link, then helps keep this blog going.

This is a guest post by contributor Bonnie Way. Bonnie Way went on her first overnight camping trip at age seven and has taken her daughters camping in a tent when they were each newborns. She’s looking forward to more camping trips this summer in a brand-new family-sized tent! When she’s not camping, she can be found blogging as The Koala Bear Writer.

A #BTS Book #Giveaway: Win one of 10 copies of Pocket Mommy

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Best_books_for_starting_school
Starting school can be extremely difficult for some children and some Moms too. Separation anxiety is a formidable opponent for many kids. The more tools you have to help your child succeed, the better. That’s why when I spied this book Pocket Mommy and this giveaway, open to Canada and the US., I had to get in on it.
From Random House Pocket Mommy publisher:
Saying goodbye to Mom at the kindergarten door can be tough. Samuel hates it and wishes he could have a tiny, pocket-sized mommy to carry around with him all day. His mom slips a pretend mommy into his pocket, and when she comes to life, Samuel is delighted . .. at first. But he soon discovers that having a mom along in kindergarten isn’t as much fun as he thought it would be. Sure, she helps him remember the words to songs and keeps him company. But she also rearranges the bookshelf, corrects his artwork, and tries to clean out the guinea pig cage—all with disastrous (and comic) results. An energetic romp with a sweet core, The Pocket Mommy follows one little boy as he navigates the age-old conflict between the comfort of the familiar and the joy of letting go. 

Pocket Mommy is a must have book for anyone starting kindergarten or preschool this year. Rachel Eugster is a lovely writer with a flare for words and a unique style. I rarely find writing style to be the thing that jumps out at me most when reviewing a children’s picture book, but Pocket Mommy is gorgeously written. Take for instance this phrase:”Chalk dust rose in energetic swirls and rained onto the floor.”

Samuel is a reluctant little boy starting kindergarten and he fears being separated from mommy. His mom has a solution and places pocket mommy inside his shirt. Unbelievably Pocket Mommy gets in so much trouble all day that Samuel learns he might be better off at school aiming for independence. 

My daughters are both tweens but they loved hearing this sweet story. Every year there is a small amount of separation anxiety, despite the age of the child you have, so this is a worthy tool to have ready for next week. I loved this twist and enjoyed the writing. The characters are fun and how comical that the pretend Mommy is the troublemaker? Pocket Mommy gets a $$$$$ out of $$$$$. It’s a very positive little story. 

I recall searching for a positive starting school book for my daughter several years ago and I was really put off by the number of storybooks that featured whiny characters who hated school and cried and were not embracing the experience in a positive manner. Or the main character would start school and encounter a bully right away or miss Mommy the entire day. I did not want to place an unnecessary fear of school in my child’s head. Pocket Mommy is a great positive example of a good back to school book for anyone. Eugster is from Ottawa and illustrator Goldsmith is from Toronto.

Pocket Mommy is by Rachel Eugster and illustrated by Tom Goldsmith. It is $17.99 in Canada and US $16.95. Tundra Books is the publisher and this book is 100 % Canadian, 2013. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tales From the Treehouse – Zoe’s Room #giveaway

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Zoe’s Room is a sweet story about sharing and sisters. We loved it here and are happy to share our giveaway with you also. This one was so good it was a natural catalyst to getting our Tales From the Treehouse series kicked off for the season again. Zoe is a little girl, a wee bit of a princess, with a bit of a knack for turning her room upside down after lights out time at night. She adores creative play and her imagination is magnificent. Please click through the video review above to see what my kiddo thought. Ainsley enjoyed this one very much and took it to school to share with her entire class.

It gets $$$$$ out of $$$$$.

ZOE’S ROOM (NO SISTERS ALLOWED)
By Bethanie Deeney Murguia
In Stores Now
Picture book for about ages 3 to 5. (I overestimated the age for this in our vlog review, but I think it can go a lot older than the suggested age of 5. My 9 year old liked it here.) 
Three winners will get a copy of Zoe’s Room: US ONLY!
·         A copy of Zoe’s Room (No Sisters Allowed)
From the Press release:
About the book
Zoe rules as Queen of the Universe — or at least, her room! — in this sweet, funny companion to Zoe Gets Ready.
Zoe is the Queen of the whole Universe … but her favorite place in the Universe is her own room, where she hosts tea parties, builds empires out of blocks, and gazes out upon the stars.
Then her parents announce that her little sister Addie is moving in to Zoe’s room. Little sisters aren’t good at tea parties (too rude), block-building (too clumsy), and starwatching (just plain too young!). So the Queen’s new roommate is a royal pain . . . until Zoe discovers that even her smallest subjects can be useful in a storm!
For ages 3-5 years.
About the author
Bethanie Deeney Murguia earned an MFA in Illustration from the School of Visual Arts. Bethanie lives with her family and her fifty pound lap dog, Disco, in Sausalito, CA. She is the creator of Zoe Gets Ready and Buglette, the Messy Sleeper.

To Win a copy leave a simple comment here and tell me where you are from (US ONLY) and who this is for? I will draw with random.org on June 28th. Three winners. US only.