Willa’s Wilderness Campout
| Author | Valerie Tripp |
| Illustrator | Thu Thai |
| Originally Published | © 2018 American Girl |
| ISBN | 9781683370871 |
Campout Tonight!
Tonight is the night that the WellieWishers were planning to do a campout. They were going to sleep under the stars in Willa’s Aunt Miranda’s backyard. Willa had come up with the idea based on a book she read by Wilderness Wendy. In anticipation, Emerson sings a song to the tune of “Yankee Doodle”:
WellieWishers,
Should hooray!
We’ll surely have a ball!
Because tonight we’re camping out,
The most fun fun of all.
Willa gleefully says Wilderness Wendy believes the most fun part of camping is being surrounded by nature. And Willa is excited to try that out. Kendall says her favorite part is putting up the tent, like building a sweet house. Emerson says her favorite part is singing songs, telling stories, and playing games. Camille says she’s most excited to be able to stare up at the beautiful sky.
But there’s one WellieWisher missing. Just then, they see Ashlyn hobbling toward them carrying a bunch of camping equipment. She tells them the key to a successful camping trip is—
Willa interrupts her and states it’s getting away from civilization and living as simply and naturally as animals do.
Ashlyn shakes her head. It’s preparation. And she pulls out a long list of things to bring. She says they’ll need to be prepared with water, shelter, and food. Willa disagrees, stating animals live in the wilderness, and they don’t need any of that stuff.
Emerson is confused. She thought the whole point of the campout was to have fun. Ashlyn offers to be in charge of collecting everything they need. But Kendall says it wouldn’t be fair for Ashlyn to have to do everything.
So Ashlyn carefully tears her list into five parts, and hands one to each of the girls. As they leave, Ashlyn reminds them to pick up all the items from their list.
Ready for Fun
Kendall ends up having to go back to the playhouse to get her forgotten list. She finds it on her workbench, as well as her hammer. She picks up the hammer, thinking maybe they’ll need it. Suddenly, a gust of wind picks up her list and swirls it through the air. Kendall jumps to try to catch it up, but then a bird comes along and carries it off with its beak. Kendall watches as the bird takes it to its nest.
Elsewhere, Camille is skipping off with her list when she sees a dragonfly shimmering over to a pond. She bends down to pick some pieces of shiny pond grass to use to make friendship bracelets. When she’s finished, she sees a frog squatting on a lilypad in the middle of the pond. She thinks the frog sounds sad. Maybe it’s stranded. She lays down her packing list on the top of the water so the frog can hop on it to get back to land. After it does, her list is sopping wet. She stuffs it in her pocket, hoping it’ll be drier later to read.
At home, Emerson worked on gathering all of the items on her list. As she packs, she realizes she doesn’t have enough room for her puppets. “Camping is supposed to be fun,” she says to herself. And so, she turns her backpack upside down and puts her puppets in first. She grabs the bag of marshmallows and opens it in order to pop some in her mouth, thinking that without the boring camping stuff, there’s plenty of room for fun stuff!
Willa is busy sitting on a log outside Carrot’s hutch. She’s looking over the list, and thinking it’s such a waste. The goal is to be as natural and simple as possible, just like Wilderness Wendy. She folds the list into a paper hat, thinking that’s the sensible thing to do—provide some sun protection.
Later that evening, the girls approach the campout spot. They see Ashlyn is already there, and her tent is completely set up already. She explains she arrived early to get things started, and can help everyone else set up their tents.
The girls look around at each other uncomfortably. They all explain that nobody brought sleeping bags or tents. Camille tried to read her list, but she wasn’t able to. She did bring the pond grass to make friendship bracelets. Emerson brought the marshmallows and puppets, but nothing else. And Kendall brought her tools, but nothing from the list. Willa brought nothing.
N’more S’mores
Camille gets started on her friendship bracelets. They end up looking really cool, and Ashlyn loves the one Camille made for her. Meanwhile, Willa and Kendall put together a nice lean-to with long branches. But, none of it has walls or covers the sky. Willa says it’s intentional so they can see the stars. Willa proudly learned how to make one from the Wilderness Wendy book.
As the night goes on, the girls start to get hungry. Ashlyn suggests making s’mores. She looks to the girls who were all supposed to bring something. Kendall was in charge of graham crackers, Camille chocolate, and Emerson the marshmallows. But neither Kendall nor Camille brought their item. Emerson did bring marshmallows, and she proudly holds up the bag. But it’s already empty!
Ashlyn takes a deep breath. “So, n’more s’mores. Oh well.” Willa shrugs it off, saying Wilderness Wendy wouldn’t call s’mores strictly necessary.
Ashlyn’s face turns pink. “I guess Wilderness Wendy and I have different ideas about what’s necessary for camping.” Willa retorts that Wilderness Wendy is the expert.
Ashlyn stands up straight, claiming she’s hungry and cold, so she’s going to go inside the tent for a snack. She asks if anybody wants to join her. Before anyone else answers, Willa responds that they’re all okay outside. Alone, Ashlyn crawls through her tent flaps.
Outside the tent, Camille, Kendall, and Emerson all start to complain to Willa. They’re cold and hungry, too. Maybe they all should’ve paid more attention to Ashlyn’s lists. Willa tells them to stop complaining. Fun wasn’t on Ashlyn’s list either, but they’re having it, too!
But the three girls don’t agree with Willa. They all wish they had brought food, water, and sleeping bags.
What’s Missing?
Kendall stands up. She knows what they’re going to do. Camille and Emerson join her. They’re going to ask Ashlyn for help and tell her they’re sorry. Willa sits down on her book in her lean-to. She tucks her legs close to her chest to help keep her warm. She’s not going anywhere, just like Wilderness Wendy wouldn’t go anywhere.
“All right,” Camille says. The rest of the girls quietly go over to Ashlyn’s tent. Ashlyn sticks her head out of the flaps. When she asks if the girls are having any fun, the girls wail “NO!” They apologize for not paying closer attention to Ashlyn’s advice and packing lists.
Ashlyn flings open her tent flaps, saying not to worry… she brought extras of everything. It’ll be a little tight with all of them in one tent, but they’ll make it work. The other three girls climb inside.
Ashlyn begins to pour hot cocoa for the girls. And then she realizes… Willa isn’t there. Emerson explains Willa still wants to be under the stars because Wilderness Wendy says the wilderness has everything they need. Camille responds that she thinks everything they need is right inside the tent.
Ashlyn looks around. There’s one thing missing, she says. And all four girls stand up and pull their sleeping bags outside.
Strictly Necessary
Sitting alone in the lean-to Willa is shivering. She’s awfully cold and lonely, even under the big sky. Just then, the other girls approach her. They tell her they think they’re missing one thing that’s strictly necessary: Willa! Camille asks if they all can join Willa and sleep out under the stars. Willa says yes, of course.
Ashlyn hands Willa a sleeping bag, and they lay all five sleeping bags out in a circle with the heads in the middle. Together, they point out the fireflies dancing and twinkling, and the stars glimmering in the sky.
Willa says she’s glad they all came outside with her. Turning to Ashlyn, she says thanks for bringing the extras. She’s happy Ashlyn was so well prepared. Ashlyn admits that maybe she was a little too prepared. It turns out, they don’t need the tent! As long as it’s not too cold or too wet, of course.
Emerson said she thinks Wilderness Wendy was wrong. It’s not about what you bring, it’s about who you’re with. Friends may not be on any camping list, but they are strictly necessary. And then softly, she sings a song to the tune of “Yankee Doodle”:
WellieWishers, close your eyes.
It’s time to sleep and rest.
And dream of all the fun we’ll have
Together—that’s the best.
For Parents
Discusses easy backyard camping as a way for girls to experience nature. Topics include:
- Pitching a simple tent
- Making delicious camping snacks
- Games to play and activities to do while outside
- Pointing out constellations
- Music and stories around the campfire