Snake Camp (A Stepping Stone Book) (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Gr. 1-2. Stevie's parents arrange for him to go to what they think is a computer camp, but when he gets there, he discovers that "Viper" is not the name of a software program. It's a snake camp, where kids get to handle snakes and learn all about them. And Stevie is terrified of snakes. He's clever enough to hide his fear and lie his way out of direct confrontation, until he finds a pet snake he loves and overcomes his fear. The plot is decidedly contrived in this chapter book in the Road to Reading series, but the hissing, slimy, scaly stuff is fun, and the cartoon illustrations exaggerate the shudders. Many kids will recognize the common terror that camp might turn out to be a nightmare. They will also enjoy seeing a boy overcome his worst fear and find a pet. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Library Binding edition.

Product Description

Stevie Marsh is off to Camp Viper for the summer to learn about computers. But Stevie doesnÍt discover until itÍs too late that Camp Viper isnÍt a computer camp at all. ItÍs a snake camp! And Stevie absolutely, positively hates snakes.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers (September 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307264068
• ISBN-13: 978-0307264060
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.1 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #452,812 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny, Clever Book!, May 16, 2003

By A Customer

Our son has always been afraid of snakes - until he read SNAKE CAMP. Now, while he's not exactly a snake charmer yet, he is interested in overcoming his fear of snakes. This is a funny, very clever book that also has a very important message.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good book for emerging readers, June 20, 2009

By	Dwight Blubaugh "MichiBlue" (The only Eaton Rapids on Earth, MI, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I love the Stepping Stone books, good stories and good reading levels for emerging readers ready to start beginning chapter books.

(spoiler alert - full book summary)
In SNAKE CAMP, Stevie doesn't want to go to just any camp. He doesn't like the woods, the bugs, the poison ivy, and especially not snakes. So Stevie's parents have signed him up for a computer camp instead - Camp Viper. At least they THINK it's a computer camp. But when Stevie arrives there on the camp bus, he learns that the vipers at camp aren't the latest in computers, they're the kind that hiss, have fangs, and slither on their bellies!

Stevie thinks he'll just sneak back on the bus and stow away on its trip back to the city, but finds out that the bus stays at camp all summer. So instead, as the campers are each being partnered up with one of the sanctuary snakes at camp, Stevie says he brought his own snake that's in a box - the horribilis slimus vipera. This rare snake is allergic to light and can only come out on very dark and cloudy days. The other kids are skeptical, but Stevie cleverly convinces them by leaving some lime jello on one of the skeptical campers while he's sleeping, supposedly some of the green slime the horribilis leaves wherever it travels.

While Stevie waits for someone to discover his lie, or a cloudy day to force his hand, he finds a friendly-looking green snake and discovers that he isn't afraid of it - so he adopts it as his snake partner and gives it the name Rocky, which he then changes to Emerald when it lays eggs. When there eventually IS a dark and cloudy day, the kids talk Stevie into opening his suitcase, where he now supposedly stores his rare horribilis snake. When Stevie is sure the empty suitcase will be his undoing when the kids realize he was lying all along, the other campers proclaim the horribilis escaped, and the whole camp turns out to help search for it. And in the meantime, Emerald has begun to follow Stevie everywhere he goes and they have developed a close bond. Stevie asks her questions, with Emerald waving her head up and down for yes, back and forth for no.

The book is cute and silly, far-fetched throughout, and obviously fantasy as the readers gets closer to the end of the book. While some young readers would probably be fooled into thinking the book was realistic fiction, this would be a good book to use in helping young readers distinguish when a book that sounds MOSTLY possible might instead be fantasy, due to only a few aspects of the story.

Young readers will likely enjoy this book - 44 pages, 5 chapters, large print, and full-color cartoonish illustrations. The book cover lists the book as being in the humor genre.