Cherrypicker
Bad, worse, camping

Camping holiday? It's a horror trip for Benni. Only when his parents accept his fears and anger does it become a great holiday adventure for him.

By Roswitha Budeus-Budde

Summer holidays at the campsite. When it comes to this topic, many children's books tell of pure freedom and adventure, of cheerful anarchy without duties and without adult supervision. Everything ultimately leads to the anticipation of the next camping holiday. But until the 12-year-old hero in Echte Camper oder wie Benni Papas Traumurlaub überlebte (Real campers or how Benni survived his dad's dream holiday) finally gets it, he goes through his own private camping hell.

Benni's holiday started off well. His father wins a campervan! He can finally fulfil his heart's desire to drive from Vienna to Greece and camp along the way. He is so looking forward to this adventure with his family. While Benni's mother is slightly sceptical, Benni's wild little sister is also bursting with anticipation. And Benni himself? He soon realises that he would much rather be at the hotel. He needs a spotlessly clean environment, delicious food, a good bed and his own loo. He also needs a swimming pool, because he hates open water and especially the sea, as he is terrified of everything that swims and floats in it. And instead of always having to hang out with his small, annoying, boisterous sister, he prefers being around children his own age.

Disgust (almost) without end

Ella Kaspar probably still remembered her own family experiences in the camper van and on the campsites when she lets Benni experience everything that real outdoor freaks casually ignore: Benny breaks out in a sweat because all the campsites are full and they have to keep driving. Or there is only one place left next to the rubbish containers. When he has an encounter with the police while wild camping, it almost scares him to death.

The intense closeness of his family also makes Benni, who desperately needs order, cleanliness and peace and quiet, increasingly desperate. He writes a list of disgusting things, which functions almost like a table of contents, because the author lets him experience everything he gathers on it. Benni endeavours to bring structure to all the disgusting things by rating them according to levels, for example ‘Level 200 - hair/sand in food, dirt in bed’. Next level up: ‘rotten handkerchiefs, sweaty, strange T-shirts that touch Benni's body, mosquitoes on his body, sun cream’.  Almost unbeatable in terms of disgustingness: ‘Level 900 - urine, faeces in the toilet or on the street: Vomit, sewage tank, gully’. The search for clean toilets and washing facilities - he is still traumatised from being bullied at primary school after a bad toilet experience - is now like a nightmare for Benni.

But the toilet misery also leads to the turning point of the story: a storm comes up and Benni has to use his sister's potty on the bus. He then demands a hotel with all his might because he finally wants a clean toilet. But his father decides to go wild camping instead, which only makes things worse for Benni. He grabs his stuff and wants to leave this misery.

And so the moment comes when the father realises his son's needs for the first time. The family now democratically decides to try one more time at another campsite. Fortunately, the conditions there are just as the boy would like them to be. The understanding finally shown by his parents helps him to overcome his aversion. Benni even makes friends with a group of children his own age. One of them is a girl who encourages him to admit his fear of the sea. In the end, the hitherto unhappy boy experiences a week full of crazy adventures and enjoys life in his tent and caravan.

Crash course before your holiday

Ella Kaspar's camper odyssey is highly recommended as holiday reading for the whole family. You should definitely read the book together before your first camping holiday! It's also lovely to look at, thanks to illustrator Sonja Stang: the caricatures and drawings with pop art elements bring a summer mood and lightness to the story.