A Campfire Tail Book Review

Now I'll be honest, I've never taken my kids camping. I don't much like the idea of sleeping in a tent or being without a toilet and neither does my husband. My children have never asked to go camping although they have asked to sleep out in the back garden a few times but since I was sent the book A Campfire Tail, my youngest two have decided that actually camping would be quite the adventure!

WELCOME TO CAMP WILDWOOD!

It's Dragon's first day, and his buddy would like to show him a good time. But Dragon doesn't seem to fit in with the other campers.

He overturns the sailboat, ruins the puppet show, and nearly sets the tent on fire.

Can Dragon come through in a pinch before everyone gives up on him?

The front cover seems to show a typical camping experience, there's tents, marshmallows for roasting on the fire, a child with a torch ready for some spooky stories and then there's Dragon . . . Not who'd you'd expect to find out in the woods.

Camp Wildwood is a summer camp. 

We don't have them so much in England but from watching certain films I think we all know roughly what they entail. 

Dragon has never experienced summer camp before either and he looks a little nervous. A little girl who was new the year before volunteers to be his buddy as she knows just how he's feeling right now.

A little lesson in empathy right there!

Someone might be a little bit excited about all the upcoming activities like sailing, tug-o-war, swimming, I mean having a dragon to play with sounds cool right?

Welcome to Camp Wildwood, where everyone has a roaring good time!

But unfortunately things don't go quite as well as initially thought.

Dragon just wants to help, he's trying to be a good friend but in doing so he doesn't realise that actually he might just be helping a little bit too much.

And then comes the fallout.

We've all had moments where we've shouted, not meaning to upset anyone, just to get your point across but of course as I always say to my girls, someone is going to end up in tears!

This time it happens to be Dragon and in a moment of sadness he wanders off, alone.

I don't think Dragon is having any fun.

A Campfire Tail takes a good look at feelings, friendships and the idea of taking other people into consideration when doing things because what one might find fun, another won't.

Sometimes we don't fit in and that is more than OK. 

And what Dragon shows people is that actually being friends with someone isn't about getting your own way all of the time. Having a friend means sharing experiences, the good, the bad and the fiery.