The Cookcamp

{{Short description|1991 novel by Gary Paulsen}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}

{{Infobox book |

| name = The Cookcamp

| image = Paulsen - The Cookcamp Coverart.png

| caption = The Cookcamp first edition cover.

| author = Gary Paulsen

| illustrator =

| cover_artist =

| country = United States

| language = English

| series = Alida's series

| subject =

| genre =

| publisher = Scholastic

| pub_date = March 1, 1991

| media_type = Print (hardback)

| pages = 115 pp (first edition)

| isbn = 0-531-05927-8

| congress= PZ7.P2843 Co 1991

| oclc= 22006371

| followed_by = Alida's Song

}}

{{Portal |Children's literature}}

The Cookcamp is a novel by Gary Paulsen. The story is about a boy who is sent to the north to live with his grandmother because of his parents being occupied with World War II. It was published on March 1, 1991, by Scholastic.

In 1999 it was followed by the sequel Alida's Song.

Reviewers identified autobiographical elements to the story, particularly the grandmother, who is believed to be modeled on Paulsen's own grandmother.{{Cite journal |last=Jenks |first=Carolyn K. |year=1991 |title=The Cookcamp |journal=Horn Book Magazine |volume=67 |issue=2 |pages=201–202 |issn=0018-5078}}{{Cite news |last=Campbell |first=Patty |date=1991-05-05 |title=Children's Books: THE COOKCAMP By Gary Paulsen. 115 pp. New York: Orchard Books. $13.95. (Ages 10 to 12) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/05/books/childrens-books.html |work=The New York Times |pages=BR22}} One reviewer called the book "a heart-warming nonfiction account of his childhood".{{Cite journal |last=Bushman |first=John H. |last2=Bushman |first2=Kay Parks |title=Something Old, Something New in Young-Adult Literature -- The Cookcamp by Gary Paulsen |journal=English Journal |publisher=National Council of Teachers of English |volume=81 |issue=4 |pages=86 |doi=10.2307/819940}} In a review in The New York Times, Patty Campbell praised the book's "grave humor" and "almost unbearable poignancy". A review in Kirkus summarized the book as "a memorable evocation of a special time and place, grounded in authentic insight into deeper truths".{{Cite journal |date=2000-01-01 |title=The Cookcamp |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/gary-paulsen/the-cookcamp/ |journal=Kirkus Reviews}}