ONCE UPON A CAMEL
by Kathi Appelt
Categories: Middle Grade Fiction / Historical / Friendship / Ages 8-12
Publisher: Atheneum / Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
Pub Date: September 7, 2021
Pages: 336 pages
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Zada is a camel with a treasure trove of stories to tell. She’s won camel races for the royal Pasha of Smyrna, crossed treacherous oceans to new land, led army missions with her best camel friend by her side, and outsmarted a far too pompous mountain lion. But those stories were from before.
Now, Zada wanders the desert as the last camel in Texas. But she’s not alone. Two tiny kestrel chicks are nestled in the fluff of fur between her ears—kee-killy-keeing for their missing parents—and a dust storm the size of a mountain is taking Zada on one more grand adventure. And it could lead to this achy old camel’s most brilliant story yet.
Once Upon a Camel by Kathi Appelt was purely a magical and spectacular read! We dive into the world of Zada, a camel from Smyrna, Turkey, and two young American kestrels named Perdita and Pard. This fable come to life is a tale of friendship and a journey based on real life events from the 1800’s when the US brought camels into Texas to transport supplies for the military.
This was honestly the first I ever heard about the US bringing camels into Texas. I’m not a native to Texas and not as familiar with Texas history, but this tid bit of fact fascinated me. I think it’s fun and clever to base a work of fiction off of this historical fact!
Zada, who is lonely and missing her friends from Turkey, encounters a sandstorm that blows in. The kestrels are worried about their babies and Zada, courageous as ever, swoops in to help them. When the sand storm sweeps the kestrels away, Zada is left to take care of the little ones, and in so doing we learn about Zada’s life story.
Zada is a gentle soul, and hearing her life story unfold was woven with imagery and a voice you can get lost in.
Though this story is geared towards children, it’s easily enjoyable to read as an adult! And one I definitely recommend. This was exactly the kind of weekend read I needed! A purely enjoyable story!
Rating: 5/5
GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY!
Three signed copies of the book.
(US only. Ends midnight, CDT, 10/9/21)
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9/29/21 |
Book Trailer |
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9/29/21 |
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9/30/21 |
Excerpt |
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9/30/21 |
Review |
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9/30/21 |
BONUS Promo |
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10/1/21 |
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10/1/21 |
BONUS Review |
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10/2/21 |
Review |
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10/3/21 |
Video Guest Post |
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10/4/21 |
Review |
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10/5/21 |
Guest Post |
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10/5/21 |
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10/6/21 |
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10/7/21 |
Scrapbook Page |
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10/7/21 |
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10/8/21 |
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10/8/21 |
Review |
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The Page Unbound 
Wasn’t it a great book? And I learned so much more than the very basic info I had known. Thanks for a fab review.
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I’m so glad that you liked my old camel and her little birds. Thank you!
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I think they have wild camels in Australia now, but I’ve probably heard less about camels in Texas.
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