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| Ellie McDoodle: Have Pen, Will Travel (Ellie Mcdoodle) | 
 enlarge | Creator: Ruth Mcnally Barshaw
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books
Category: Book
List Price: $5.99
Buy New: $2.52
You Save: $3.47 (58%)
Buy New/Used from $2.52
Avg. Customer Rating:  (8 reviews)
Sales Rank: 281571
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 192
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
ISBN: 1599902761
EAN: 9781599902760
ASIN: 1599902761
Publication Date: May 27, 2008
Release Date: May 27, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Ellie McDougal (better known as McDoodle) is determined to hate every minute of a summer camping trip with her family. To keep her sanity she captures all the excruciating (and very funny) details in her secret journal. Complete with games to play in the car and on rainy days , songs, tips on identifying poison ivy, picking out the constellations, weird facts, and more?Ellie might soon discover she?s actually having fun! Part graphic novel, part journal, part wilderness survival guide, this paperback edition is perfect for sleep-away campers, vacationers, and any kid looking for a great summer read.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
read again and again October 2, 2008
My seven-year old, now eight, has read this book over and over again! I like the descriptions of game rules that are worked into the text.
Book Review: Ellie McDoodle April 26, 2008
An Important Business Man runs into another Important Business Man on Wall Street:
I.B.M. 1: So, have you heard about the story/illustration merger?
I.B.M. 2: Yes, yes, but that's only affecting teens.
IBM 1: Well that's true, male teenagers have been reaping big rewards. But it's having trickle-down effects to younger children as well.
IBM 2: Ha! Look, the next thing you're going to be telling me is that girls will be seeing some benefits. Man, are you out of touch or what?
IBM 1: Well then let me show you (hands over a copy of "Ellie McDoodle: Have Pen Will Travel"). The evidence is right here. The merger has been very successful. It's about a girl who is forced to go camping with relatives she doesn't like. The book itself is the sketchbook that she brought on her trip. It's amazing, she documents everything that happened.
IBM 2: Alright, some kid's drawings. How is this a book?
IBM 1: The story is in there too. It's sort of like a cross between a sketchbook and a diary. Over the course of seven days, Ellie gets to know these people that she had judged as being weird. You ever meet someone you didn't think you'd get along with and end up becoming friends? Ellie goes through that in this book.
IBM 2: So there's some stuff in there about being open-minded and giving people a chance?
IBM 1: Yep. There's a lot of humor too. If you've even been camping you know there's a lot of situations to draw from.
IBM 2: What's camping? It that like when you have to go to your second choice restaurant?
IBM 1: Uh, no. I'm sure you've seen it: tents, forests, campfires. Although in "Have Pen, Will Travel" Ellie and her relatives do "fake camping", as she calls it - they stay in a cabin. Look, you're a friend, so I'm going to let you in on this. I just bought 1000 shares of Graphic Novels for Upper Elementary Girls, and I suggest you do the same.
IBM 2: Well that stock has been on the rise lately, especially when the "Babymouse" IPO went public. I may just take your advice.
IBM 1: (iPhone rings) Well, I have to take this call. Back to work!
IBM 2: (Putting book in briefcase) Is it okay if I borrow this book? I think my daughter might be interested.
IBM 1: (Cracking a sly grin) Not a problem.
Too Fun! March 6, 2008
This story is the book I would have loved to have read as a kid. It is on for 9-12 year olds, and makes the reader feel every part of what it is like to feel unheard, unseen, and unappreciated. A great debut for this new writer/illustrator. Can't wait for the next book!
If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you November 9, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
As far as I can tell, there's no known solution to the problem of being an adult reviewer who reviews children's books from an adult perspective. I don't care how immature you are or how stuck you might be in your second childhood, since you will never be able to replicate the feeling of being a kid picking up a book and reading it for the very first time. It just ain't gonna happen. No, see, when YOU pick up a book you're carrying years worth of baggage on your shoulders. You're viewing the story through the filter of your own perspective and what you see will inevitably be tainted by your past. I'm telling you all of this up front because in order to convey just how much I adored "Ellie McDoodle: Have Pen, Will Travel," I need to make it clear that a significant percentage of that love is rooted in my own experiences as a kid. Author Ruth McNally Barshaw has successfully nailed what it feels like to be a child going on a summer vacation in Michigan. I was a Michigan child. I "camped" in cabins and experienced many of the same things as the heroine of this book. But even if I'd grown up in Bemidji, Minnesota or Walla Walla, Washington, I'm almost certain that I would still have adored this book as a kid. It's another example of the "illustrated novel" brought to brilliant, vibrant life.
How would you go about defining the word "torture"? If you were Ellie McDougal (McDoodle, to those in the know) you might define it as, "a family vacation with your monkey-boy little brother, annoying cousins, and boring aunt and uncle in the woods of Higgins Lake." Which, of course, is exactly what Ellie has been subjected to. Stuck with intolerable relatives, she decides to make the most of her ordeal by recording everything in her sketchbook (the one you, the reader, are reading) and getting some time away from the craziness. Of course, a series of incidents shows Ellie that maybe her extended family isn't the crew of monsters she thought they were. Maybe, in fact, they can all be a lot of fun and the summer isn't totally ruined after all. Maybe.
So what is this book exactly? I mean, on the outset it looks like a sketchbook with sentences in between the pictures. Obviously there are a lot more written sections than drawn sections, but the pictures are pretty steady throughout. So how do you categorize this book? It's not a graphic novel, since the pictures are sporadic and pop up only at random intervals. It's not a comic book either, nor is it a straight written novel. At this point in time, the only option left is the phrase, "illustrated novel". It's not perfect, but it's the only thing I've found to describe Barshaw's style. Plus it's a style, moreover, that I think is going to inspire a whole generation of kids. I can picture young 'uns bugging their parents to buy them sketchbooks and blank pages, just so that they can create highly illustrated personal diaries like Ellie/Ruth. Heck, while reading this I myself wished I knew how to draw, just so that I could jazz up my own life with pictures galore. And I know I can't be alone.
And man, did I like it. First of all, there were the obvious Michigan connections that drew me in. Using your hand to describe where you live in the state (complete with an image of a bunny jumping a mitten, in terms of the Upper and Lower Peninsulas). A kid from Kalamazoo (woo-hoo, hometown!). Visiting with other kids and finding that you don't like their cereals. Man, did that ring some bells! Ms. Barshaw has an almost eerie ability to either remember or channel instances from a kid's daily life that are all but forgotten by adults. Plus she just hits characters dead on. The "villains" at the beginning successfully become real three-dimensional people by the story's end. The sketches are great fun, and then there are some great ideas for games. Ms. Barshaw knows that you have to break up your narrative sometimes with an interesting little sidenote here and there. In this case, the sidenotes are games complete with instructions for Human Pretzel, Spoons (something I'd like to try out), Sardines, and others.
The temptation here is to call this book something trite like, "Diary of a Wimpy Kid but for girls!" or some such nonsense. Don't get me wrong. I loved "Diary of a Wimpy Kid too, but I am of the firm belief that, like this book, it is a title that goes beyond gender. Everyone can relate to Ellie. I mean, seriously, who likes to be peed on in the middle of the night? Nobody. But any book with a girl on the cover can be a hard sell to boys. Here's what I'm suggesting, then. When a kid comes to you asking for a copy of "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" and you're all out of copies, cough surreptitiously into your hand and say, "Sorry, kid. All out. We got something just as good in the back, y'know. As funny as `Wimpy Kid' and there's a lot more pranks and games and wars between kids but ...," shake your head, "I dunno. You might not get it. I mean, it's hilarious, and gross, and it has all these great drawings and sketches, but maybe you're just too young..." After that, reel `em in, give them the book, and watch it fly off your shelves in no time.
Part Harriet the Spy, and part Amelia's Notebook, "Ellie McDoodle" is just one of those books you can't help but enjoy. It flies low on the radar, so I suggest discovering it for yourself. There's never been a better time to indulge in a book that can offer you cool pictures, great characters, a fun story, and a little redemption on the side. A small pure gem.
Courtesy of Teens Read Too July 5, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
It's camping time for Ellie McDougal but she's not happy about it. Ellie's parents have to go out of town, so she and her baby brother, Ben-Ben, will be going with their Aunt Ug, Uncle Ewing and cousins Erick, Deanna, and Tiffie. All of the camping supplies are packed and ready to go, including Ellie's sketchbook. Will the trip be as bad as Ellie is afraid it will be?
Through the pages of Ellie's sketchbook, she tells the story of her camping trip. She meets a 13-year-old boy by the name of Scott. He is one interesting character, as he speaks French, Japanese, and English. He wants to learn to draw, which is something that Ellie can help him with. He has to leave but never tells Ellie that he is leaving Campsite 137. She is saddened by her friend leaving. Her opinions of her relatives change throughout the book. In the beginning, she thinks of Erick as being a dinosaur but that changes as it goes along. Erick also collects frogs and thinks he has found the best frog, but holds him too tight -- Oh, no!
The illustrations are very cute and add meaning to the story. The characters you meet in this book are very unusual. The storyline keeps young readers interested. This is a must read for children ages 9-12 who would love to be entertained with a good story and a very easy read. With fewer words and many pictures on each page than most books for this age group, this is a delight. Pack up your bags and get ready for a camping adventure with Ellie along -- it's bound to be a great time! I hope that there are more exciting adventures of ELLIE MCDOODLE books in the future.
Reviewed by: Bri P.
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