From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 2-- In this ninth story about the chimp and his family, Arthur tells Violet that her knowledge of walkingsticks and cocoons is "baby science." After all, he has been on field trips and collected specimens. The siblings get permission from their babysitter to go on their own field trip and meet up with friends Mabel and Wilma. They invite Violet to go camping with them. Arthur offers to go along to protect them, but Mabel informs him that she is in charge. Arthur goes on his own camp-out and finds himself out of breath, out of food, tired, and alone at the edge of a pond. He follows a scent and finds the campers gaily roasting hot dogs and singing songs. Arthur finds out that girls not only know how to camp but they know something about science as well. Hoban's watercolor illustrations are as refreshing as the tale, which will not only amuse young readers but also give them food for thought as well. One of Hoban's best "Arthur" tales. --Sharron McElmeel, Cedar Rapids Community Schools, IACopyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
In a ninth ``I Can Read'' about the popular Arthur, his smug superiority to little sister Violet is almost overstated; still, his gentle comeuppance makes a satisfying outcome. Boasting of his planned field trip, Arthur describes ``snakes--slimy things you would not like,'' but Violet responds, mildly, ``A girl in my class brought in a snake she caught...It wasn't a bit slimy. I held it in my hand.'' Arthur sets out on his trip while Violet and her friends camp out nearby, turning down his offer to ``protect'' them in the woods at night. Left alone, it's Arthur who's scared, especially of bats; the girls take him in, but not without a lecture on bats' ecological virtues. The good humor of Hoban's naturally cadenced dialogue and realistic detail mellows the message, while the childlike characters are as likable in her full-color mixed media art as in the text. (Easy reader. 4-8) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Book Description
Arthur's gone Camping.
Violet's camping out too, but her friends don't want Arthur around. So Arthur decidesto collect slimy things he knows Violet wouldn't like. But he doesn't count on slippery rocks and swooping bats, or hunger pangs. Then he smells hot dogs roasting over a warm fire...
Card catalog description
Bored with spring vacation, Arthur decides to go alone on an overnight field trip in the woods behind his house.
About the Author
Lillian Hoban's books for children have been working magic for nearly thirty years. Her illustrations can help change an unfamiliar setting-like a museum filled with dinosaurs and whales-into a wondrous adventure, and her words and pictures together can transform chimpanzees and badgers into very real companions for the youngest reader.Ms. Hoban was born and raised in Philadelphia. Among the first books she illustrated were the ever-popular "Frances" books, and several years later she wrote and illustrated Arthur's Christmas Cookies, thereby ushering in her beloved 'Arthur" series.In 1967 Ms. Hoban was asked to illustrate Will I Have a Friend? by Miriam Cohen. It was the beginning of an enormously popular collaboration that produced more that a dozen books about Jim, Paul, Danny, Anna Maria, and the rest of the first-grade classcharacters as familiar to children as their own classmates.Perhaps the key to the unfailing popularity of Ms. Hoban's stories and illustrations is that she's long been a keen observer of children, having had firsthand experience raising four of her own.Lillian Hoban lives in Connecticut.
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