I love great books. Actually, it stands to reason that anybody who likes to read loves great books. It’s probably even more important for reluctant readers and younger readers to dig into those great books. If you have a third-grade reader then The One And Only Ivan is a great book. It’s a novel that feels big and gives those ages confidence that they’re able to read, understand and enjoy books that they thought were previously out of their range. It’s a modern classic that elementary school readers will still be reading in 100 years. In reading the press about Once Upon A Camel, it was often compared to that book, which I found a little insulting. Ivan is a book that gave our kid confidence and taught our youngest son. That book has memories. How dare something new and unproven be compared to the book that provided the literary bridge to our child, I thought. All of that was until I actually read Once Upon A Camel.
Once Upon A Camel feels like the literary sibling to Ivan in the best of all possible ways. It does not feel like an unnecessary sequel. This is more of a book shell that gives off the same vibe, due to the patient, caring, and detailed storytelling that takes place. Aside from the pacing and animals that are able to talk in their own world, these books stake their own claim in the world of things that will ravenously entertain kids eight and up.
Parents, guardians, and librarians, those ancient beings that oversee your education, will love the fact that Once Upon A Camel introduces readers to things that are most likely completely alien to them. The only exception to that are readers who are familiar with camels, and to an extent falcons, their history, how they live, and the characteristics of different breeds.
Zada is a camel and Once Upon A Camel starts with her being awaken from a nap by the chirping of a small kestrel. A kestrel is like a small falcon, they’re in the same family, but slightly different. I didn’t know that either, and that is OK. Zada is in Texas and she’s had an amazing life that is jammed with stories and characters. I think Texas and camels are not the first things to pop up on my radar. There is a story for that in the book and it’s just one of many that readers will love experiencing.
As Zada is telling her tales and looking for the krestal’s mother, she’s walking through the desert, trying to avoid the lion and keeping an eye on the weather. The stories that she’s sharing with the krestals jump back and forth from when Zada was younger to her current time as she’s walking across Texas.
Once Upon A Camel is so effortless to read it’s the literary equivalent to sitting outside on a cool fall day, watching the leaves succumb to gravity’s pull. It’s all the more impressive because the chapter lengths are quite short, and because of that, young readers will find themselves reading more to find out what happens. The chapters weave between 1910 and 1850 when Zada was a younger camel in a faraway place.
The book perfectly sets up these situations in a way that young readers will be glued to the pages in order to find out the answers. Sometimes the next chapter will answer them and sometimes it will go back or forward in time to continue the character narrative.
Once Upon A Camel is so much fun to read. It’s that really charming story one of your grandparents might tell, but loaded with so much detail, natural interruptions that you don’t mind, and a feel-good ending that makes you want to go back in time to where you could experience it for the first time again.
Once Upon A Camel is by Kathi Appelt with illustrations by Eric Rohmann and available on Antheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.
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