Campfire Morgan (First Novels; 38). Ted Staunton. Illustrated by Bill Slavin. Halifax, NS: Formac, 2007. 61 pp., pbk. & hc., $5.95 (pbk.), $14.95 (hc.). ISBN 978-0-88780-721-3 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-88780-725-1 (hc.). Subject Heading: Camping-Juvenile fiction. Grades 1-3 / Ages 6-8. Review by Sandi Harrison. **** /4

excerpt:

I think about it anyway—Dracula Vampire Bats; T-rex-sized killer salamanders; grabbing mutant poison-ivy fingers; oozing slime-green outhouse monsters. The flashlight makes a ghost circle in the black. We creep up the path. It’s cooler here, even though I can still hear the campfire crackling. Our feet crunch on foresty stuff. I wait for the mutant poison-ivy fingers to grab us. A mosquito buzzes in my ear. I swat at it and bump Aldeen. She doesn’t care. She is so close she is almost in my shoes. I don’t even mind. What if there are oozing, slime-green outhouse monsters?

When Morgan brags to his buddies about his upcoming camping trip, third-grade bully Aldeen wants to go too. The problem is, Morgan has told a few untruths about the great outdoors, and as such, he is concerned about the outcome of an entire weekend in the bush with a bully. Aldeen’s parents send her along on the trip despite Morgan’s protests, and that’s when the fun (and sibling rivalry-like jealousy) begins.

     Ted Staunton’s Campfire Morgan, with lively, cartoon illustrations by Bill Slavin, is a fantastic, short novel for children to try reading on their own. Staunton’s writing is lively, imaginative, and entertaining. Easy readers/early novels sometimes feel choppy or uninspired, but Campfire Morgan keeps the pace. Staunton’s descriptive writing offers dynamic character growth, an amusing, well-timed plot, and a smorgasbord of fun words that children will enjoy learning (and repeating). Staunton’s writing feels genuinely as though he is writing from the perspective of a second-grader, and not as an adult attempting to do so. It is this talent that makes Campfire Morgan a true success.

Highly Recommended.
 
Sandi Harrison, who completed her Master of Arts in Children’s Literature at UBC in May 2007, is currently in the Education program at SFU.

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