Press kit and review copies.
Thanks for your interest. We're happy to help.
The original Camp Journal was carried by L.L. Bean, Barnes & Noble, and camps and leading specialty stores across the country. Reviewed in twenty newspapers. But the infrastructure wasn't there for a one-person operation to scale. I always knew I'd bring it back — and with our granddaughter heading to her first summer at sleepaway camp, the timing is right.
For the founding story — the homesick letters, the camp nurse who got it right, the picnic-table validation — see the About page. For press coverage of the original, see the headlines below.
A few starting points.
If you're preparing something on camp and wondering where the Camp Journal might fit, a few possibilities are below. The About page has more on the journal's origins and other threads worth following. We're happy to send review copies — for you, and for any kids you might wish to interview. The full press archive from the original is available on request. Shannon Snow drew more than forty hand-illustrated pages, and her process is its own story for the design-minded. I've been thinking about this journal for almost thirty years and am happy to discuss any of it.
A window into your child's summer.
Parents who send a child to camp don't get to see what camp actually was — the food they liked, the sound of the cabin at night, the counselor who got it right. The Camp Journal arrives home as the document that fills that in, in the child's own handwriting. Prompts ask what they heard when the cabin got quiet, what activity they were reluctant to try, what the chef cooked that they loved, and more.
The reluctant writer's journal.
Most journals fail the child who doesn't think of themselves as a writer. The Camp Journal is built for that child too — checkboxes that require no writing, sentence completions that supply a lot of the work, humor-forward prompts that don't ask for vulnerability. The funniest thing that happened at camp ___. Every child has that answer.
What the child discovers.
Kids at camp notice things adults wouldn't think to look for — the sound of the cabin at night, the taste of mess hall food, the moment they realized they were braver than they thought. The Camp Journal's prompts help them find the words. One prompt reads "I'm not as ___ as I thought." A child sits with that for a moment, then writes.
Acknowledging the hard moments.
There is a page in the Camp Journal called Not Such a Great Day — a mud-stained jacket illustration, a blank space, no prompt. Just permission. Most camp products treat the experience as a highlight reel; the Camp Journal was deliberately designed to honor the hard days too. That design decision was the most difficult one to get right.
A special gift for grandparents.
Grandparents give a grandchild a Camp Journal before camp, and read what came back in their own hand at the end of summer. Most grandparents aren't part of the post-camp kitchen-table conversation. The Camp Journal their grandchild brings home lets them in.
The illustrations speak for themselves.
Shannon Snow drew all of the Camp Journal artwork — from cover to cover, with quilted layers, hand-drawn lettering, on nearly every page. The illustrations aren't merely decorative; they do work. A cricket cues a child to remember the sound before the prompt asks about it. A mud-stained jacket on the Not Such a Great Day page signals that hard days have a place here. Before a word is written, the pages are already inviting a child to write.
"These are a few. Phil is happy to talk through them, or others — as the author, and as a parent and grandparent. Shannon is available too, on the illustration work."
Praise for the original Camp Journal.
Twenty newspapers covered the original between 1997 and 1999. Ten claims about the journal, each corroborated by a verbatim quote from that coverage.
Designed to be answered on the child's own terms.
"Don't just write home. Keep a journal for yourself (and OK, maybe your parents) about your camp experiences."
— Carol Stuart, The Tennessean, May 13, 1998
A keepsake families return to long after camp is over.
"In the end, long after summer's over, parents and campers both will have something to save and look back on."
— Maria LaPiana, The Sacramento Bee, May 30, 1998
Coverage that traces the actual arc of camp.
"Kids can write about 'My First Day at Camp,' 'Ups and Downs,' 'Activities I Didn't Like' and 'Camp End.'"
— Jan Uebelherr, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, June 7, 1999
A page reserved for a third voice: the counselor's.
"The 64-page fill-in-the-blank Camp Journal… even pages for addresses, autographs and a note from the counselor."
— Sherry Thomas, The Houston Chronicle, June 6, 1999
Prompts that go beyond what they did to how it felt.
"This cute, spiral-bound notebook elicits all this information and buckets more by posing writing starters such as, 'I felt silly doing…' or 'Animals I saw…' or 'The most embarrassing moment was…'"
— Krys Stefansky, The Virginian-Pilot & Ledger-Star, May 12, 1998
Warmth and humor that make the harder questions feel safe.
"The Camp Journal is designed to hold memories of the good, the bad and the goofy moments at summer camp."
— The Arizona Republic, June 21, 1998
A coherent artistic identity, recognized by readers.
"The Camp Journal… is attractive in a homey, folksy way, complete with inviting pages framed with patchwork quilt borders."
— Maria LaPiana, The Sacramento Bee, May 30, 1998
Prompts engineered so the answering feels easy.
"Asking what your child did at summer camp can yield such loquacious responses as 'swimming,' or 'hiking.' To elicit more illuminating information, send your camper off with a Camp Journal."
— Chicago Daily Herald, June 29, 1999
Permission for the camper to record the hard parts.
"The Camp Journal… has separate sections for memories like 'camp food,' 'great days' and 'not so great days.'"
— The Buffalo News, June 29, 1999
It solves the four-word-postcard problem.
"Your child comes home from summer camp, and all the little tyke has to say is 'It was great' or 'Lotsa fun.' If you want to get the lowdown skinny on their camp experience… send 'em packing with Camp Journal."
— Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje, The Houston Chronicle, July 13, 1997
Twenty newspapers, 1997–1999.
The original Camp Journal was reviewed in twenty newspapers between 1997 and 1999. The full archive — bylines, dates, full article text — is available on request, or searchable in Lexis-Nexis and Dow Jones Interactive.
The Houston Chronicle · The Sacramento Bee · The Virginian-Pilot · Atlanta Journal-Constitution · Milwaukee Journal Sentinel · Chicago Daily Herald · The Buffalo News · The Arizona Republic · The Tennessean · Tulsa World · Providence Journal · Portland Oregonian · San Diego Union-Tribune · Sun-Sentinel · Harrisburg Patriot · Dallas Morning News · Dayton Daily News