The Camping Trip That Changed America: Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir and Our National
Parks.
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Bibliographic information:
Author: Barbara Rosenstock
Illustrator: Mordecai Gerstein
Publisher: Penguin Group
Publication date: 2012

Summary:
In the year 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt read one of John Muir’s books about
vanishing forests. Roosevelt then decided he wanted to go on a camping trip with John
Muir. During their trip they would explore the beauty America’s land had to offer. On
this trip Roosevelt and Muir discover Western parts of the United States that would one
day be Yosemite National Park.
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Awards: Parents’ Choice Silver Award Winner, Junior Literary Guild, BookList Top
Ten Books on the Environment for Youth, and Monarch Award 2014; California Library
Association Beatty Award; Maryland’s Black-Eyed Susan Award List; South Carolina
Picture Book Award List; Starred Review from School Library Journal
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Review: From Booklist - In 1903, Theodore Roosevelt read John Muir’s book on the
Sierra Nevada, which ended with a plea for government to save the vanishing forests. The
president asked Muir to take him camping in the Yosemite wilderness, and two months
later, Roosevelt followed his knowledgeable guide into the mountains, through the valley,
and among the giant sequoia trees. Returning to Washington, the president pushed to pass
the laws that created national parks and forests as well as wildlife sanctuaries. The very
readable text focuses as much on the men’s enjoyment of the outdoors as on the historical
importance of their camping trip. Gerstein contributes a wonderfully varied yet coherent
set of line-and-watercolor illustrations, including small portraits of the men, a memorable
scene showing two figures dwarfed by giant sequoias, and a close-up of the men talking
around their campfire. In an appended note, Rosenstock includes information left out of
the story and mentions that some scenes were imagined. A short list of sources is
included. This colorful picture book humanizes two significant individuals in American
history. Grades 1-3. --Carolyn Phelan
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Author Information, Barbara Rosenstock: http://www.barbrosenstock.com/
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Illustrator Information, Mordecai Gerstein: http://www.mordicaigerstein.com/
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Discussion Questions
Pre-reading questions
o What is a National Park?
o What do you know about Yosemite National Park?
o Does anyone know who John Muir is?
o What do you know about Theodore Roosevelt?
Questions during reading
o Why did Roosevelt and Muir go on a camping trip?
o What do you think Roosevelt and Muir will discover on their trip?
o What do you think they will need for their trip?
Post-reading questions
o What president and/or famous person would you want to go on a camping
trip with?
o How was Yosemite Park discovered?
o Why are National Parks important?
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Curricular Activities
o Reading/Oral Language: The teacher could also pick out certain
vocabulary words from the book and have students use the pictures in the
book to determine their meanings. Students can also complete KWL
charts. Students could also complete a Venn diagram for the two
characters, Roosevelt and Muir.
o Writing: Students can choose a National Park from a list and write about
it.
o Math/Technology: Have students calculate how many miles it is from
where they live to Yosemite National Park. Students could then calculate
the amount of time to get to Yosemite National Park. Look up the park’s
website and see pictures of it. Check out the satellite view of the park on
Google Maps.
o Science: In the story Muir talks about how Yosemite’s granite was carved
by glaciers. You could bring in a piece of granite to class so students could
observe and study it. You could then study how men harvest the earth.
Students could also perform an experiment on how soil forms canyons,
valleys, and rivers. For the experiment you would need a large foil pan,
sand, soil, rocks and water.
o Social Studies: The preservation of our National Parks is very important.
After learning about the importance of the National Parks for a project,
students could write up their own plan to conserve Yosemite Park. After
writing their plans students could present them to class and have a class
wide vote on which one is the best.
o Art: Have students choose Yosemite National Park or another National
Park to paint a watercolor picture of the park. You could also do the same
project but instead of using watercolors you could use oil pastels or use
colored chalk. Students could also use different textures to show the
different features of the National Park.
o Music: Using various instruments or songs found online, have students
create lyrics to a song that could represent the National Park.
o Cooking/Food: S’Mores!
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Related Books:
o Those Rebels, John and Tom by Barbara Kerley, Edwin Fotheringham
(illustrator)
o Worst of Friends: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and the True Story of an
American Feud by Suzanne Jurmain, Larry Day (illustrator)
o Here Come the Girl Scouts!: The Amazing All-True Story of Juliette ‘Daisy
Gordon Low and Her Great Adventure by Shana Corey, Hadley Hooper
(illustrator)
o Brothers at Bat: The True Story of an Amazing All-Brother Baseball Team by
Audrey Vernick, Steven Salerno (illustrator)
o National Park Mystery Series by Gloria Skurzynski
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Other titles by the author:
o The Littlest Mountain
o Fearless, the Story of Legendary Driver Louise Smith
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Other books by the illustrator:
o Leaving the Nest
o What Charlie Heard
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Websites for Further Enrichment:
o National Parks Foundation for Kids
http://www.nationalparks.org/connect/npf-kids
o National Geographic National Parks page:
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/photos/us-national-parks
o Nature's Web is a collection of the top 15 US national parks for kids.
http://library.thinkquest.org/3627/
o Yosemite National Park Kids’ Page http://www.yosemitepark.com/kidattractions.aspx
o Gloria Skurzynski – National Geographic Mysteries (National Parks)
www.gloriabooks.com/national.html