Cover of The Giants Go Camping by Jane Yolen

Giants Go Camping, The

THE GIANTS GO CAMPING

Illustrated by Tomie dePaola

Seabury 1979

ISBN# 0-8164-3223-6 Seabury hardcover

The 1970’s was a time of a great upsurge in children’s publishing, and everyone was trying easy readers. This little book–and its prequel THE GIANTS FARM–were both my entry into that particular genre. The five giants live on Fe-Fi-Fo-Farm which is what I wanted to call our farm when we first moved here. (We ended up naming it Phoenix Farm, but at the urging of my children, I used the other name in a book!) Tomie’s pictures manage to look like–Tomie! But the characters are really a metaphoric Yolen-Stemple family. And boy, did we love to go camping–all over New England mainly, but also down into West Virginia where David’s family still lived.

Accolades:

  • Child Study Children’s Books of the Year list 1979
  • A Jr. Literary Guild selection.

What reviewers have said:

  • “Yolen has created characters to stand alongside Toad and Frog and Owl in a delightful easy-to-read storybook.”–Language Arts
  • “The five distinct characerts of The Giants’ Farm return to amuse beginning readers in search of light humor and a longish text with chapters.”–Booklist
  • “As expected, Yolen’s talents make the most of all the escapades. . .”–Publisher’s Weekly
  • “This sequel to The Giants’ Farm succeeds in retaining the original’s lively sense of fun.”–School Library Journal