Reviewer: Sharon Brunner
Johnny Storm’s Upper Peninsula in the Sun: Hooray for Camp Days portrayed the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (U.P.) as an enjoyable place to spend time outside, sight seeing and having fun with family. The main characters were the author’s family who spent time at the Keweenaw Peninsula and surrounding areas, a part of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (U.P.). Storm attended Michigan Technological University, which is a U.P. school, and married someone from the U.P. He provided in this delightful children’s book what it was like spending time at his family’s summer camp and the things they did outdoors: swimming, fishing, boating, four-wheeling, sight-seeing, and jet skiing. The story was about how pleasurable a U.P. summertime can be. The weather is usually perfect, the water pristine, the scenery magical and the wildlife a reminder of the ruggedness of the rural paradise.
Some of the themes were spending time outdoors and family unity. The children fished and floated in the water with their grandparents. A big campfire was built, and they shared stories and ate s’mores. The Brockway Mountain sounded breathtaking as they viewed Lake Superior from above the treetops. As mentioned earlier they spent a lot of time outdoors swimming and other fun activities. I have visited the Keweenaw Peninsula and found it to be just as beautiful, especially the Copper Harbor area. I have lived in the U.P. all my life and am very aware of its splendor.
While reading this book I was reminded of the movie “Frank: A Family’s Best Friend.” In this movie a family escaped city life to enjoy life on an island. An abandoned dog wanders onto their property and the dad alerts the animal control shelter. His children convinced him to keep the dog, but when summer was over, he must be put up for adoption. Frank ended up risking his life and brought the family closer together. This book and the movie have three things in common. The family in this book visit the U.P., a rural setting for their summer vacation and the other family in the movie visited an island which was more secluded. Family unity was important in this book and the movie. Dogs were in the book and movie. Plus, I really like dogs so why not. A children’s book that came to mind was “A Summer Day” by Douglas Florian that involved a family who sets off on a trip to the countryside. They swim, go fishing, have a picnic and watch a rosy sunset on a hilltop. Spending time in the country has proven to be relaxing and gratifying.
I recommend Upper Peninsula in the Sun: Hooray for Camp Days for its positive and fun way of portraying the U.P., because of its colorful illustrations, for its playful narrative that rhymes and for its interesting locations that draw the readers’ attention. White City was a location that was not familiar to me until I read this book. It used to be an amusement park and now it is a ghost town that people still visit, which happened to be a common occurrence in the U.P. The illustrations were wonderful, and I especially liked the little dog chasing the bear. However, there are only black bears in the U.P. The people in the pictures looked like they were having such a good time, lots of smiles. Real life experiences of people doing all kinds of fun activities during the summer months. Storm brought to life in a fun way the magic of the natural beauty of the Keweenaw Peninsula.
Title: Upper Peninsula Fun in the Sun: Hooray for Camp Days
Author: Johnny Storm
