The Camping Trip That Changed America

We all have a lot to be grateful for from this one camping trip. You have to love the two page spread of the giant sequoias. Nicely written too.

I liked this book just fine, although I didn't quite LOVE it the way I was expecting to.

On the plus side, the illustrations are terrific, it makes you want to get up from whatever you are doing and head out to Yosemite and the Mariposa Grove and all that.

My problems may be that, as a rabid Theodore Roosevelt Fan Girl, my expectations were too high. For the bulk of the story, I felt like it could have been any two random guys out on a camping trip who love nature and want to save America's wild areas (a noble idea no matter who has it). I thought this was a bit too bad, given that both TR and John Muir were, to put it mildly, extremely individualistic and somewhat eccentric individuals. I was hoping I would have more happy sparks of that show more "oh, now THERE is Roosevelt!" feeling of recognition. show less

Barb Roseenstock captures Teddy Roosevelt’s love for nature in this book. He is introduced to the beauty of nature by John Muir. Teddy was reading a book by Muir where he pleads to the government for help with saving the forests. The two men get together and Muir shows Teddy the forests, they sleep under trees, and explore the mountains together. Each night the men slept under trees which stood out to me, because in the end the reader is informed that both men are actually buried under their favorite trees. The pictures look as if they are done with watercolors and are very large, showing the beauty of nature’s surroundings. The realistic notion that nature is being destroyed year after year is shown in the book, “My children show more should see this place,” says Teddy, “I hope it is still here for them” says Muir. show less

The message of this book is to protect nature because it will not always be there.
I thought this was a cute book to get young children into preserving nature. It discusses how national parks first come into existence thanks to Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir. It was interesting to read about how Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir spend several days under the stars and how they believed that everyone should have the chance to experience the wilderness and to ensure that we will always have some wilderness. I thought explaining this idea in a short story like this was an excellent way to express to the readers the important information.
I also enjoyed the illustrations of this book. Although the pictures are roughly drawn (on purpose), they show more only add to the appeal of this book. The pictures appear to be drawn with pens and watercolors. I really enjoyed this style of drawing with the plot of this book because it connects creating a carefree and imaginative appeal to the book. I also enjoyed how on one page, the reader has to turn the book sideways in order to look at a page that depicts the sequoia trees, showing their size and magnitude. show less

This is the story about how National Parks came to be. What I love most about this book is how the author makes two incredibly influential men so relatable to a younger generation. One was she does this is by giving the two men nicknames. Together, Theadore Roosevelt and John Muir go camping near Yosemite where they discuss the importance of setting aside land so that generations to come can enjoy it as much as they do.

Well, the title really says is all! And on this 100th anniversary of the parks services, I think this should be a must read for all kids! I liked it especially, because my daughter and I took a tour of Yosemite this summer, and the guide told us about this exact camping trip! Reading this book with her really reinforced the message from that day and the memories of that trip!

“…’fairly fell in love’ with the president.” John Muir’s own words captured in Rosenstock’s book express many American’s feeling of President Theodore Roosevelt. In this book readers will fall in love even more with Roosevelt as they learn where his loves and respect for nature came from. Reader’s are given an in to his presidential and personal life in his roles of president and nature lover through the book. Accompanied with vivid, beautiful illustrations of Yosemite it won’t take much for a reader to see the world Teddy fell in love with protecting and preserving.