View source for Wild Thing Goes Camping by Emma Barnes

{{infobox1
|title=Wild Thing Goes Camping
|author=Emma Barnes
|reviewer=Ruth Ng
|genre=Emerging Readers
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=9781407137971
|pages=176
|publisher=Scholastic Press
|date=February 2015
|website=http://www.emmabarnes.info/
|summary=Naughty little sisters are always funny!
|cover=1407137972
|aznuk=1407137972
|aznus=1407137972
}}
Wild Thing is truly wild, keeping worms in her grandma's handbag, building dens in muddy holes in the garden, or setting up camps, complete with sticks ready for a fire, in her big sister's bedroom!  She's the sort of child who sends her parents grey in their twenties!  Poor Kate, her older sister, is stuck being the sensible one in the family, trying to keep an eye on Wild Thing and help her dad out (her mum died when Wild Thing was very little), and the strain of always being sensible and reliable begins to show and Kate starts to think maybe she'd like to be wild too!

I really liked the style of this story.  It's very lively, engaging, and written with lots of warmth and humour.  Wild Thing is appealing to read about in that monstrous five year old sort of way, and Kate is equally appealing as the long-suffering big sister!  I'm sure those with younger siblings or younger family members will identify the situations that Kate finds herself in with Wild Thing, and will find themselves sympathising and wondering just what on earth Kate will do with her crazy little sister!  At the start of the book I didn't really like the way Wild Thing talks as it was very babyish and not really how a five year old speaks, but don't worry, this fortunately doesn't last and she does go on to speak normally through the rest of the book.

I enjoyed the plot of the story, especially Wild Thing's desperation to be cast as a Bear in the school's play of The Jungle Book!  It's all very silly, but with very real moments of stress and strife that will be recognisable to children.  Poor Kate's desperate attempts to be different, and wilder, and noticed, are both funny and moving.  She's a great big sister.  The illustrations by Jamie Littler also really add to the feel of the book, with wonderful black and white pictures of characters who are full of expression and fun.

The book is divided into chapters, and would probably work for independent reading for those about 7 or 8 years and older, but I think you could read this aloud with any school-aged children and have them laughing over Wild Thing's antics.  It makes for a fun bedtime read, and it was interesting enough to me as a grown up to be an enjoyable story to share.  The two protagonists are, obviously, girls but I think the humour of the story works for boys and girls equally.  A great, fun read!

You might also enjoy reading [[You're a Bad Man, Mr Gum! by Andy Stanton]]

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[[Category:Confident Readers]]