How to Fit a Car Seat on a Camel

April 1, 2008
Thirty-six mothers, mostly professional writers, have contributed stories of travels with children to this volume. Sometimes harrowing and sometimes heartwarming, the pieces (all but two original to this collection) range from typical family vacations to barely controlled chaos to trips planned as adventures from the start. In "From Absinthe to Zeitgeist," Adrienne St. John-Delcroix takes her teenaged daughter to Brussels, and, somehow, the two end up roaming Europe with her daughter's boyfriend. Susan Wolter Nettell writes hilariously of a 12-hour train trip with her sister and her sister's two-month-old quadruplets. These are short memories of specific journeys, without tips or generalizations, leaving readers to come to their own opinions and infer any travel advice. While each piece is delightfully entertaining, some revealing the joy of family trips, others as riveting as horror flicks, that all of the contributions are by womenand mostly work-at-home authors at thatdoes make the collection seem somewhat uniform; some male authors and a wider range of perspectives would have been welcome. Suitable for large public libraries.Erica L. Foley, Clinton-Macomb P.L., Clinton Twp., MI

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