The Cookcamp

July 14, 2003

"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," wrote PW. "Paulsen makes this hero one of the most fully realized characters in recent memory." Ages 6-9.

A boy, who is five, must leave his home in Chicago while his father is away at war. He travels alone by train to the woods of Minnesota where he comes to love his grandmother and his life in the rough lumber camp where she cooks. At the conclusion of the recording Paulsen himself tells the listener more about the autobiographical aspects of this novel. C.J. Critt's breathy, sibilant style and her careful pacing add solidly to all of the story's characters. She has the subtle touch of a portraitist. While she doesn't rely on a wide variation in dynamics, pace or volume, nonetheless, the listener shares the boy's loneliness and understands his courage, longing and delight. It's a masterful performance of a touching book. L.R.S. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine