Review - Biscuit et Cassonade aiment le camping

Biscuit et Cassonade aiment le camping (Biscuit et Cassonade)
by Caroline Munger
Date: 2016
Publisher: De la Bagnole
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: hardcover
Source: library

Il y a longtemps que Biscuit et Cassonade rêvent de faire du camping. Les deux complices ont très hâte d’installer eux-mêmes leur tente, de se promener dans les bois et, surtout, de faire griller des guimauves sur le feu! Biscuit et Cassonade aimeront-ils la vie en pleine nature et qui rencontreront-ils durant cette aventure?

(synopsis from Biscuit et Cassonade; see it on Goodreads)

Boy, is my French rusty! I got some French picture books from the library because I thought they'd be something I could read. After all, I was reading French-language novels in high school and university. But it's been a while. I got the gist, I think, but I don't think I'm really going to be able to comment on the quality of the writing.

One thing that I don't like about the way French is written is dialogue. There's often little punctuation to set it off, so I was a bit confused as to when the characters were talking and when they were simply performing actions. It's tricky for an English speaker to get the hang of.

Anyway, the story itself (what I got of it) isn't bad. Biscuit and Cassonade are brothers. There's apparently a whole series of books about them, but in this installment, they go camping. They pack up all their stuff and head out into the woods. There's definitely a nice element of teaching all about the objects that are involved in camping. The brothers have dinner (and a dessert of marshmallows--of course!) and retire to their tent. In the morning, they find a greedy raccoon sprawled out near their campsite among the remains of their food. The raccoon becomes their friend and helps them take advantage of their outdoor surroundings. They all go boating and enjoy the scenery.

What makes this book cute are the photographic illustrations. All the characters are stuffed animals that are posed with various props. It looks like the toys were actually taken out to some campsite by a lake to get the shots. It's pretty cute. When the raccoon appeared in his food coma, I actually laughed out loud. The photographer managed to create some pretty fun characters out of stuffed toys.

I wouldn't mind checking out some of the other books about these fuzzy brothers. I'll have to see if the library has any more of their adventures.

Premise: 4/5
Story: 3/5
Illustrations: 4/5
Originality: 4/5

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3.5 out of 5