Go Camping

by Maddie Frost, Maddie Frost (Illustrator)

Overview

Camping or Glamping?

Albert and Pickles are an unlikely pair of besties and they’re ready to explore the great outdoors for the first time. Albert is ready to camp the old-fashioned way while Pickles thinks he’s going to a five-star resort under the stars. Pickles is going to have to find a way to cope in the wilderness for one whole night, but luckily, Albert is there to assist in pitching a tent, cooking by the fire, and embracing the great outdoors.

While navigating their way through the rest of this camping trip, Albert and Pickles run into their old friend, Platters, who is in search of the Woolly Moon Beast—a legendary ferocious creature. Together, they must reunite a lost baby koala with its mama while this potentially dangerous predator looms large in the woods.

WOMBATS! is a brand new graphic novel series that is perfect for fans of Jack books, Baloney and Friends and Narwhal and Jelly.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593465295
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	04/04/2023
Series:	WOMBATS!
Pages:	96
Sales rank:	1,011,756
Product dimensions:	5.81(w) x 8.56(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	GN470L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

Maddie Frost is a children's author-illustrator from Massachusetts. Her books focus on funny characters and are packed with heart. Most of Maddie's ideas come from emotional and personal places that are spun into a hilarious story. She uses her anxious and worried brain to make art and relate to readers of all ages. When Maddie is not making books, she's hanging out with her two pups, Mozzy and Remy.

Editorial Reviews

03/06/2023

As blue-hued Albert and lavender-tinted Pickles, both wombats, embark on a much-anticipated camping trip, they’re shocked to discover that their individual expectations about the event are wildly at odds in this sprightly, chuckle-worthy graphic novel gambol by Frost (Let’s Draw Fun Animals). While practical Albert arrives prepared for the great outdoors with a tent and a compass, chimerical Pickles—who has grand visions of a cozy fire and refreshing hot tub—is equipped with tons of seemingly useless luggage, such as a jar of dill pickles and a donut floatie. After Pickles stumbles into a nearby creek, the marsupial emerges from the water only to find that a gray baby koala has latched themself onto him. Though Pickles is excited for a new friend, Albert insists they locate the infant’s mother, kicking off an adventure through the woods that leads the trio toward myriad situations both exciting and treacherous. Wholesome interactions and lighthearted humor elicit continuous laughter, but the secret sauce is the baby koala, whose huge, endearing eyes and elephant-size ears camouflage their precocious tech acumen. Rather than incite conflict, the best friends’ contrasting personalities provide ample opportunities for narrative give-and-take, modeling thoughtful and sincere friendship. Ages 6–9. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"This adventure is gentle and light. . .this graphic novel is rife with humor. . .The protagonists respectfully acknowledge each other’s preferences and value their friendship. The virtues of seeking and leaving one’s comfort zone are both on display during this amusing outdoor trip." —Kirkus Reviews

"A quick, amusing read that will be accessible to many struggling and reluctant readers, particularly fans of Clanton’s Narwhal and Jelly." —BCCB

"Frost provides plenty of laughs. . . A sweet, silly series starter. Hand this early reader graphic novel to fans of Brian “Smitty” Smith’s “Pea, Bee, and Jay” series." —School Library Journal

"Wholesome interactions and lighthearted humor elicit continuous laughter, but the secret sauce is the baby koala, whose huge, endearing eyes and elephant-size ears camouflage their precocious tech acumen. Rather than incite conflict, the best friends’ contrasting personalities provide ample opportunities for narrative give-and-take, modeling thoughtful and sincere friendship." —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

03/01/2023

Gr 1–4—Two wombat besties go camping with humorous results in this early reader graphic novel. On the morning of their trip, ever-prepared Albert calls his excitable best friend Pickles to make sure he has everything he needs. Right away, readers will spot that these two have differing ideas about what their trip will entail; asked if he packed "light," Pickles responds affirmatively, adding his party light to the pile. Setting out into the woods, the two only go further afield from what either of them expected, with a chance encounter that finally takes them all the way to the cave of the fearsome Woolly Moon Beast. But in this gentle, good-natured comedy, any trip is an adventure as long as these best friends are together, and the ending offers a surprise that is satisfying to all. With clever wordplay, brightly colored visual gags, and an affable cast of animal characters that also includes Platters the platypus and a baby koala, Frost provides plenty of laughs while successfully establishing a woodland world that readers will be happy to revisit in future volumes of this planned series. VERDICT A sweet, silly series starter. Hand this early reader graphic novel to fans of Brian "Smitty" Smith's "Pea, Bee, and Jay" series.—Andrew Eliopulos

School Library Journal

2022-12-24
A tale of two different ideas of camping leads to an adventure full of surprises.

Wombat BFFs Albert and Pickles are headed on a camping trip. Albert is the more practical-minded and outdoorsy type, while Pickles is more about modern comforts. Their different expectations lead to some mild disagreement until Pickles stumbles across a baby koala in the woods. The wombats also come across their platypus friend Platters, who is in the woods looking for a legendary and dangerous Woolly Moon Beast. This adventure is gentle and light, both in exploring the divergent interests of its central duo and in the search for the koala’s mother. Pickles has an exaggerated, reactionary personality that will elicit the most laughs. This graphic novel is rife with humor, from Pickles’ hilariously over-the-top fear of the unknown to the baby koala’s frequent mispronunciations to characters randomly popping up out of the scenery. Layouts are clearly arranged and easy to follow. Both Albert and Pickles are winsome protagonists—mature, self-reliant Albert is clearly at home in nature, explaining how to read a compass and describing the wonders of nature, while Pickles shows a willingness to try new things despite trepidation. The protagonists respectfully acknowledge each other’s preferences and value their friendship.

The virtues of seeking and leaving one’s comfort zone are both on display during this amusing outdoor trip. (Graphic fiction. 6-9)

Kirkus Reviews