- Paperback: 128 pages
- Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks; Reprint edition (Jun 1 2003)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0439523575
- ISBN-13: 978-0439523578
- Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 13.7 x 0.9 cm
- Shipping Weight: 91 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #554,450 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
This short, lyrical novel concerns a five-year-old boy who is sent to the north woods of Minnesota to live with his grandmother, a cook for a rough-and-tumble road-building crew, because his father is off fighting in World War II and his mother has taken a job in a factory. Paulsen's simply told story strikes extraordinary emotional chords, from the boy's wide-eyed wonder at the giant men and their giant machines, to his searing rage at his mother's new boyfriend (the real reason he's been packed off to the woods), to his profound love for his grandmother, to his aching loneliness for his mother. Paulsen expertly balances sensitive probing of the boy's mental and emotional life with superb descriptions of the boy helping the men build the road, making Paulsen's unnamed hero one of the most fully realized characters in recent memory. Those hungry for adventure stories, as well as more introspective readers, will be spellbound by this stirring novel, which is every bit the equal of The Winter Room and Paulsen's other works. Ages 10-12.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From School Library Journal
Grade 5-8-- In its simplicity of story line but depth of imagery and emotion, Paulsen's latest work is very much like MacLachlan's Sarah , Plain and Tall (Harper, 1985). During World War II, the father is in the army and the mother has to work, so a five-year-old boy is sent to stay with his grandmother who works as a cook for a road-building crew in northern Minnesota. At first his day consists of long stretches of quiet as he tries to amuse himself, only to have the peace invaded by the crew of large, loud, good-natured men who inhale great amounts of food, ruffle the boy's hair, and then get back to work. The boy ultimately gets over his shyness when they take him out to work with them and let him ride in the big trucks. But still, he misses his mother, and soon he is sent back to her. Paulsen does an excellent job of portraying the lightning-quick changes of a young child's emotions, from the upheaval of being sent away to the wonder of coaxing a chipmunk to accept food from his finger, from the exhilaration of being in the large trucks to the quiet security of being sung a Norwegian lullaby. In the boy's eyes, the men are so much larger than life that they seem almost mythic, as if he had been suddenly transported to Paul Bunyan's camp. But he's not so dazzled by their size that he misses the small things: he is equally enthralled by the tiny detailed painting on his grandmother's thimble or the colors in her apple pie. While the boy is very young, his experiences are universal, making this a superb book for readers just old enough to look back and remember their childhoods and grandparents with a feeling of nostalgia. --Susan M. Harding, Mesquite Public Library, TX
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
For a long time during a war his father was in the army and had to be away to fight, and the boy had to go live with his grandmother. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
For a long time during a war his father was in the army and had to be away to fight, and the boy had to go live with his grandmother. Read the first page
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Concordance
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's all right,
By Matt Dawes (Gallup, NM USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Cookcamp (Paperback)
"The Cookcamp" was a heart-warming story about a boy being sent to the home of his grandma, who he never met before in his life and his crazy mother just went and sent him there anyway without saying anything to the boy. When he arrives, he feels like his mother just dissed him like he was nothing. So after a few weeks of spending time with his Grandma, he felt like he was more than something! Then all of a sudden, his mother wanted him back. Then he go back home, the place he didn't like to go to. So that's what his forgetful mother does to him and that shows HOW MUCH SHE LOVES HER ONLY CHILD(HER ONLY SON)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I recommend this book because it's a heart-warming story because of what happened to the boy.
1.0 out of 5 stars
Depressing / Sexual Content,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Cookcamp (Hardcover)
This story centers around a 5-year-old boys who catches his mother on the couch making strange noises with a man who is not his father. This event is the catalyst for a neglectful mother, who often leaves her son with a drunk babysitter, to send him away on a train to stay with his grandmother. Throughtout the book there are at least 12 references to the sexual event that victimizes the boy, makes him hate "Uncle Casey," and separates him from his mother. The kindness of his grandmother and the men at the cookcamp are overshadowed by recurring memories of a negative sexual event. Infidelity, neglect, haunting memories, separation... not an uplifting or appropriate book for elementary students.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A new and fun way of life,
By jasenao (Dothan, Alabama, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Cookcamp (Hardcover)
"The Cookcamp," like just about all of Gary Paulsen's books, is a good one. A boy is sent to stay with his grandmother at a cookcamp because WWII is coming. While there, he has fun spending time with his grandmother and helping her feed the nine men in the camp. While going to work with the men, he will learn to drive some trucks, the art of spitting, and some other things. But after he's there awhile, he finds out that he misses somebody."The Cookcamp" is a pretty good book. It tells a good story and it's interesting all the way through. If you like some of the other Gary Paulsen books, or if you like good stories, I recommend getting this one.
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