Hiking with kids: the secret ingredient

Dear Annie,

Eleanor is reading whole chapters on her own!  This is so great. 

We're in Maine now -- haven't made it to the Saco for canoeing yet, but are very happy to be away from city life.  Your pal and occasional guest blogger Denise posted a great question on my last post:

What are some other books like these that would inspire hiking and camping trips? My daughter is a resistant hiker though reciting/singing We're Going on a Bear Hunt always keeps her going for a little while. But we do need more inspiration for our imminent camping trip:-)

I can't think of a perfect book, but let me offer two that might help, and some advice.



Play with Me, by Marie Hall Ets is a sweet picture book (1955) about a girl who wanders into a meadow looking for playmates.  She meets a series of animals (grasshopper, frog, turtle, fawn, etc) who run away when she gets too close.  She eventually sits by a pond and the animals all come back.  It gives a feel of the elusiveness of animals in the wild, and of needing to act a bit differently when one is looking for them.  It's also just a lovely classic book.

Good old Henry and Mudge come through on this topic with a camping book:
Henry and Mudge and the Starry Night, by Cynthia Rylant.  Henry and his parents -- with, of course, his big dog Mudge -- go camping. They hike to their campsite:

They walked and walked 
and climbed and climbed.
It was beautiful.

And there's a list of what they see: fish, deer, waterfall, rainbow.  Mudge gets very fond of all the smells.  They end up sleeping under the stars.

I'm going to veer off books for a minute to offer a solution which worked real well in our family:  always hike with friends.  Slogging up that trail with mom and dad and siblings can get a little old, tiring, whine-inducing.  But add another family with kids -- with us slightly older kids were the best -- and it becomes an adventure.  Being in a new place with friends makes it all a lot more fun.  And if you're the kind of family that likes to sing a few tunes from Broadway musicals as you go, you'll be at the top of whatever you're climbing before you know it.

Enjoy your trip, Denise.

Love,

Deborah