Once Upon a Camel
Recommended Ages: 8-11
Click here to listen to the review.
Once Upon a Camel is a delightful tale about a camel named Zada and her American Kestrel friends. The story takes place in the desert of Texas as a haboob barrels through the land. Zada is tasked with getting the baby Kestrel’s to safety. Meanwhile, the parents have been lost in the storm seeking to find their way to the meeting point. In order to soothe and comfort the frightened Kestrel’s, Zada tells them stories from her youth, of her dear friend Asiye, and their adventures.
One of the things that I absolutely loved about the story is the vocabulary. This book will introduce your reader to wonderful words that you would not typically find in juvenile fiction. You will find words like “gambol”, “ensconced”, “valor”, “commenced”, and so much more. The story also switches between Zada telling her stories of the past, current events in the story, and provides the perspective of what is happening with the Kestrel parents when they are missing. Personally, I like stories that do this, however, it is something to be aware of if you have a reader who may struggle with this format.
With this story, you do not have to worry about profanity or any unsavory interactions between the characters. The only thing that I would note is that from a Biblical perspective you do have moments where Zada mentions sending positive energy or “thought beams” to other characters or out into the world in reference to particular events. There is also discussion about the prehistoric camels that roamed the earth and the formation of the world at the beginning. This is a fantasy book told from the perspective of animals, so some of that is to be expected.
Nevertheless, the story has great messages about friendship and life as the camels face different trials. One of the chapters deals with the fear of losing, of failure. Zada and Asiye are trained racing camels and leading up to it, they are scared.
“Fear wrapped its arms around the two and squeezed.
“What if...,” asked Zada.
“... We lost!” exclaimed Asiye.
...
Zada couldn’t budge. Asiye, too, was stuck in her tracks. They were so paralyzed by the bevy of what-ifs that they couldn’t even feel their toes.
Thank goodness for Teodor... But none of those cameleers were Teodor. He simply stood beside them and waited. And soon all that patience and kindness worked. The fear that held them in its arms let go.” (99-100)
A few other noteworthy aspects:
“Stories, my birditos, come in all shapes and sizes. Some are long. Some are short. Some make us smile and others make us ...well...a little weepy. And then there are stories that leave us with an open ended question...” (154)
The camels are let loose by Teodor to save their lives. The camels are unaware of this and think they lost him in the desert. “But that didn’t keep them from looking. It didn’t keep them from hoping for a miracle.” (163).
I also loved the author’s note. Make sure you listen to the podcast for a little more on this.
Ultimately, this is a sweet story that your readers will enjoy, especially if they like stories about animals.
