Camp Time in California

Mary Pope Osborne's Camp Time in California is a Magic Tree House adventure for 7 year olds about a mission to save the wilderness.

What happens

Jack and Annie have fourteen minutes before dark. That's all their dad allows, so they race to the tree house. Waiting for them are two blank books, two pencils and a rhyming note from Morgan. They must call themselves artists, draw what they see, and help save the wilderness by Sunday noon.

But what needs saving? When they arrive in Yosemite, the trees are so huge that Annie wonders if they've shrunk. Everything looks healthy and peaceful.

The best surprise is the pencils. Jack is sure he can't draw. Then he puts his pencil on the page and it sketches a perfect squirrel all by itself! After that they want to draw EVERYTHING.

There's a grizzly bear asleep in a hollow tree, which Annie wants to draw and Jack very much doesn't. Then they're rescued by four riders. One is a cheerful cowboy called Teddy, who seems to be having the time of his life. Another is an old man they call John of the Mountains, who knows every bird and stone.

What follows is a proper camping trip on mule-back, with a sudden snowstorm, a campfire supper and a night sky full of stars. Jack falls off his mule and wants the ground to swallow him up. Teddy's pep talk is lovely, and very useful for a reader who hates getting things wrong.

There's a sad bit too. At the campfire John talks about a giant tree, 1,400 years old, that was cut down. Annie creeps away to cry, and Jack takes her up to look at the stars to cheer her up. It's a really touching moment between a brother and sister.

If you've got a young reader who loves animals and the outdoors, this is a gorgeous one. It might even send them off with a sketchbook of their own (Jack and Annie certainly want one by the end).

Teddy is keeping a secret about who he really is, and the reveal near the end is a great moment (no spoilers!).

What to read next

For another of Morgan's missions to save a creature, try Late Lunch with Llamas. A giant condor appears over Frog Creek, and the tree house sends Jack and Annie to the Andes Mountains of Peru.