A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever by Marla Frazee

From the Publisher

When James and Eamon go to a week of Nature Camp and stay at Eamon's grandparents' house, it turns out that their free time spent staying inside, eating waffles, and playing video games is way more interesting than nature. But sometimes things work out best when they don't go exactly as planned.  

The Washington Post - Elizabeth Ward

I can't think of another picture book since Peter Spiers's 1978 classic, Bored—Nothing to Do!, that gets inside small boys' heads more convincingly.

Publishers Weekly

Frazee (Roller Coaster) salutes grandparents and slyly notes children's diversions in this breezy tale of "the best week ever." After Eamon enrolls in nature camp, he spends nights with his grandparents, Bill and Pam, at their beach cottage. Eamon's friend James joins the sleepover, and although the text describes James as "very sad" when his mother drives away, a cartoon shows him exuberantly waving "Bye!" Humorous contradictions arise between the hand-lettered account ("Bill handed them each a pair of binoculars and a list of birds to look for. On the way home, the boys reported their findings") and voice-bubble exchanges between the boys (Eamon, training the lenses on James: "His freckles are huge." James: "Yeah, and his tongue is gross"). Bill tries to interest the boys in a museum exhibit on penguins; the inseparable friends ("To save time, Bill began calling them Jamon") show no enthusiasm yet energetically build "penguins" from mussel shells. Frazee's narrative resembles a tongue-in-cheek travel journal, with plenty of enticing pencil and gouache illustrations of the characters knocking about the shoreline. Like The Hello Goodbye Window, Frazee's story celebrates casual extended-family affection, with a knowing wink at the friends' dismissal of their elders' best-laid plans. Ages 6-9. (Mar.)

Children's Literature

According to information on the book's cover flap, this story is based on real people and events. Two friends, Eamon and James, are going to spend a week of their summer vacation at a nature day camp. The boys will spend the week with Eamon's grandparents, Bill and Pam, who live at the beach. Bill dearly wants to visit Antarctica and see the penguins. He tries, without much success, to interest the boys in paying a visit to the local museum which is featuring a penguin exhibit. As the days pass, the boys become inseparable and Bill gives them a new name... Jamon. At every turn, they resist any suggestion for a visit to the Natural History Museum. But a wonderful surprise awaits Bill and Pam on the morning after the last day of camp. The boys have created "Antarctica" for Bill and Pam from the rocks, driftwood and shells they gathered from the beach. The brightly-colored gouache illustrations are cartoonlike and excellently match for the text. They successfully bring out the great humor of the adventure. Kids are sure to relate to Eamon and James and to the boys' relationship with the grandparents. Put this volume on the priority list, as it is sure to be very popular. Reviewer: Sylvia Firth

School Library Journal

PreS-K- James and Eamon spend a week at Eamon's grandparents' beach house. The boys go to nature camp during the day and delight Bill and Pam (the grandparents) at night with their antics. Bill makes an earnest attempt to interest the young boys in his own hobby-studying Antarctica and penguins. He wears a penguin shirt and brings out maps and globes, but it appears that James and Eamon are not listening. Frazee brings out the typical energy of a couple of boys who may scoff at nature and seem to prefer watching TV, but it is through her artful illustrations that readers catch glimpses of just how savvy and creative these kids can be. The youngsters' circular cartoon faces are distinguishable only because of their small tufts of hair-one curly, the other straight. Endpapers depict a humorous variety of drawn photos that could have been taken during the week. A penguin craft is explained on the final end flap. This intergenerational story will elicit howls of laughter and requests for repeated readings.-Blair Christolon, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VA

Kirkus Reviews

James and Eamon spend a week with Bill and Pam, Eamon's grandparents, while they take in a week of nature camp-a week that turns out to be "the best week ever." A deadpan text narrates the events of the week, from the obligatory nature hikes and sleeping on an inflatable mattress downstairs to Bill's well-meaning attempts to engage them in wildlife study and Pam's great cooking. Frazee's hilarious round-headed cartoons romp across the page in snort-inducing counterpoint, abetted by the occasional speech balloon ("I think it should be called Sit-Around-Camp."). What emerges is a complete portrait of two thoroughly modern boys who watch TV, get messy, resist both nature and self-improvement-and still get won over by the spell of the great outdoors. The genius here is not that the boys finally get outside in the end; it's that their joy in being together is celebrated equally whether they're annihilating each other in a video game or building a replica of Antarctica on Bill and Pam's dock. As respectful of kid sensibilities and priorities as it's possible for an adult to achieve. (Picture book. 5-8)

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