Summer Camp: Great Camps of Algonquin Park

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

Attending summer camp is a Canadian tradition. For those kids fortunate
enough to have attended one of the famous camps in Ontario’s Algonquin
Park, the experience was rich and unforgettable. The author,
photographer, and book designers are all “graduates” of the
Algonquin experience and have co-operated to capture both the facts and
feelings of the camps.

The book focuses on eight children’s camps: Northway, Pathfinder,
Ahmek, Wapomeo, Tanamakoon, Arowhon, Tamakwa, and Wendigo. The oldest
has a 90-year history; the youngest, a mere 30 years of tradition.

The photos are excellent and will bring back vivid memories both for
the thousands who attended these camps and the hundreds of thousands who
spent summers at similar camps. For most books, the page design has a
supporting role, at best. Here it plays an equal part with text and
photos. The result is a beautiful book that invites repeated browsing.
The text is the weakest element in the work. It is factual and carefully
professional—and lacking in enthusiasm or creative spark. It is rather
dull reading, with the positives-only tone of a press release.

Few people will actually read this book, but huge numbers will enjoy
leafing though it, letting the imaginative design and quality photos
stir up memories.