Wolf Camp

by Andrea Zuill

Overview

Meet Homer, a dog who heads to camp to live like a wolf! Here’s the perfect book for the legions of kids out there who love dogs and funny books.
 
Homer is a dog . . . but he also secretly fancies himself part wolf. So when an invitation to attend WOLF CAMP (“Where every dog can live as a wolf for a week”) falls out of his kibble bag one morning, he’s determined to go. After his people finally agree, Homer boards the bus bound for Wolf Camp, along with fellow campers Trixie and Rex. They’re greeted on the other end by wolf counselors Fang and Grrr (“they seem nice”), and what follows is an array of wolf activities, including learning to howl, mark, and hunt. Of course, Homer’s a little homesick at times, and the food isn’t very good, but that just makes heading home all the sweeter.
 
Perfect for all those kids anticipating camp themselves, Zuill’s debut introduces a charmer of a dog and puts him in some laugh-out-loud scenarios.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781984851659
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	07/31/2018
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	277,306
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 10.80(h) x 0.20(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Andrea Zuill’s debut picture book, Wolf Camp, is based on her own dog, Homer, who appeared in a series of comics entitled Urban Wolf. Also a fine artist, she often shows her work in galleries in California, Texas, and New York.

Editorial Reviews

This debut picture book will delight more than dog lovers.” —Kirkus Reviews starred review

From the Publisher

05/01/2016
PreS-Gr 2—This picture book debut introduces readers to a cartoon canine who sets his sights on attending Wolf Camp. From the moment an advertisement falls out of the bag of kibble into his bowl, Homer begs his people to let him go. At camp, he and his fellow campers learn the fine arts of marking, howling, and tracking, all in preparation for their first hunt with counselors Fang and Grrr. In a letter home to his family, readers learn that Homer's a little homesick, but by story's end the campers have adjusted to life in the wild like naturals. They return home with honorary certificates and are forever changed, as evidenced by Homer's nighttime howling. Pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations have a comic feel owing to the frequent use of word and thought bubbles and the arrangement of the action on the page, which often appears in borderless panels. Meet the new dog in town; here's hoping this won't be the last we see of Homer. Kids anticipating attending camp themselves soon will relate to the humor and enjoy the way the artwork extends the story. VERDICT Adding this fun and engaging selection to picture book collections and storytimes will ensure some happy campers and a howlingly good time.—Samantha Lumetta, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, OH

School Library Journal

★ 2016-02-17
Homer, a goggle-eyed, middle-size houndish-looking canine, yearns to go to Wolf Camp, a place "Where every dog can live as a wolf—for an entire week!" Yes, a sleep-away camp for dogs. After persistent pestering, the mutt's given permission to go. On arrival it is introduced to the counselors, enormous, sharp-nosed, shaggy wolves named Fang and Grrr. Zuill's pen-and-ink drawings with watercolor wash perfectly conveys the dogs', er, sorry, campers' inner feelings, from the getting-to-know-you butt sniffs to their expressive eyes as they receive their instructions. Fang's safety-talk speech bubble is so extensive that the text bleeds off the page. Homer, like any child in a new situation, slowly warms up to the goofy golden retriever-like Rex and the tiny gray Chihuahua Pixie, the fellow campers forming a pack that learns to hunt, howl, and sleep outside like real wolves. Although Homer has a rough start, confiding in a letter home that the "food is yucky and has hair on it" and the bugs "are gross," when it is time to leave, the tears flow. Readers witness Homer's return to domesticated life, as the dog curls up on a comfy round bed under a blue electric blanket. Homer is not an unchanged dog, though, but an honorary wolf with a certificate and a howl to prove it. This debut picture book will delight more than dog lovers. (Picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews

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