Aaaaiii! is the sound you might hear yourself making if you find a Crawly Thing sharing your sleeping bag. . . . "Oops!" is what you should try not to say too often while it's your turn to be camp cook. Patrick McManus's descriptions of the circumstances that can produce these responses are hilarious. Along with the humor there is practical advice for beginning campers, dispensed with a generous helping of common sense.
Here you will find answers to hard questions such as how to tell the difference between hard-boiled eggs and raw. . . . how to keep your matches dry. . . . what to do if you encounter a cow — or a bear. In alphabetical order, these self-contained entries are capsule adventures in camping. Whether your kind of camping is sleeping out in the backyard or hiking to rugged country, you will be better prepared when you've read Patrick McManus on Air, Clothing, Dogs, Emergencies, Macho Guys — and he'll keep you laughing all the way to Zip.
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Note: This is the first edition hardcover of the McManus Books publishing of "Kid Camping", not the original William Morrow publishing. although a paperback version of that is also available in the links.
Booklist
"McManus is a natural storyteller, with a voice so strong that readers will be hard-pressed not to believe his tales."
New York Times Book Review
"Everybody should read Patrick McManus."
Now, everybody can.
Kirkus Reviews
"[McManus's] stories are not merely amusing, they are laugh-out-loud, stomach-clutching, tears-rolling-down-your-cheeks hilarious. . . . This collection is as welcome as lemonade in the desert."