This book was charming, fresh, interesting, appealing and my kids liked it. Really interested in other books in the series!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a complementary copy in exchange for an honest review.

This story of a group going camping and the grandfather offering up the wrong advice before learning the error of his ways will fit nicely with the continuing story of the Ratsos. I like that the cast has expanded to offer more perspectives on the camping experiences, but the story can get a tad muddled with the many different characters to differentiate as they try to survive the camping trip and the many mistakes of the campers and Grandpa Ratso. Still, readers of the Infamous Ratsos stories up this point will get what they want from this new story.

This was a super cute story that encourages working together. “Life is much easier when we admit we can’t do everything ourselves.”

Perfect for an emerging reader!

If you're interested in scouting and camping, this might be more interesting to you than to me. It felt flat and unappealing.

Love this series. Everyone teaches a lesson in a creative and entertaining way. This was a great summer book to read aloud. We read it all one night because my kids didn’t want to stop.

Thanks NetGalley and Candlewick Press for the opportunity to check this book out! "The Infamous Ratsos Camp Out" is a great emerging-reader addition to the library. Engaging story and comical characters move this delightful series forward. Can't wait to read the next adventure!

Another cute book about the Ratsos family and their friends. This time they are camping and run into a few problems, but by the end of the trip everyone starts to help each other and they learn a bit more about what it means to help.

In this new adventure of the Ratsos, we get to go on a camping trip with them and their friends. Of course, there's conflict. Everyone is excited to earn badges. Grandpa wants to do everything the old way and insists that scouts don't need any help. As the story develops, it turns out that the older scouts and adults wind up having to depend on the younger scouts who have been consulting their handbooks all along. This book is a simplified version of what camping can be and hits all the marks (pitching tents, building a campfire, fishing, hiking, scavenging). Readers will come away appreciating the lessons that can be learned by observing the signs of nature. They will also learn that it is perfectly fine to lean on one another: when one is lacking, another may fill the need. In the end, the adults admit that it is important to be helpers but also always important to accept help when in need.
The illustrations give the reader some bright moments and there are a few handy skills mentioned that can be researched further. In just under 80 pages, there are quite a few curriculum connections that teachers or scout leaders can use with their students. Not as humorous as other Ratso brothers books.

Smores, rain showers, getting lost, and much more in this book will make you smile as the Infamous Ratsos head out on a camping trip in the forest. Readers will totally relate to this book if they have ever been camping. If they haven't, it is a great guide for planning a successful trip. Great illustrations and short chapters make this nice for readers starting chapter books. Scouting fans will also love this book to!

I have barely a handful of "auto-buy" authors, but Kara LaReau is one of them. Introduced to her fiction for young readers by one of the books in her Bland Sisters middle-grade series - which was an homage to Agatha Christie, my all-time favorite writer, no less - after falling for those two strange little girls, it was a no-brainer to try her chapter-book series featuring the famous (or in this case, infamous) Ratsos Brothers. Have read them all, the latest (and fourth) in the series, The Infamous Ratsos Camp Out, finding our siblings Louie and Ralphie taking a break from city life by teaming up with their friends for their first-ever camping trip. Their dad, Big Lou, is leading the Big City Scouts expedition, although when they arrive at the Friendly Woods Campground a surprise awaits in the form of Grandpa Ratso, who was Big Lou's scoutmaster when he was a little camper, who will co-lead (actually, sort of take over) things from Big Lou. But Grandpa Ratso, the young scouts soon learn, is a bit rusty in his scouting skills, leading the troop into a spot of trouble that will require each member of the troop to not only rely on his or her self - but also to help each other, or ask for help when it's needed. In both her terrific series, LaReau's skills at combining a dry sense of humor with positive messages about self and family (that won't hit young readers over the head) are razor-sharp, but what makes her truly stand out is her ability to create larger-than-life characters - even in talking animals - that ring 100% true on the page. Combine this with the hugely-talented Matt Myers's (as always) equally warm and upbeat art, and volume four of the Ratsos Brothers continuing story is another standout in kid-lit - perfect for young readers, or maybe even better for adults reading to the kids; sharing these adventures aloud that emphasize the core values of friendship and family. Either way, this is another winner in the series kids should read - and re-read - with smiles on. (Available 5/12) 4.5/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

“Life is much easier when we admit we can’t do everything ourselves.”

But as Big City Scouts, aren’t they supposed to do everything themselves. Scouts don’t ask for help, do they? Grandpa Ratso says that the oath is clear ... solve your own problems, don’t ask for help. This might be why the scouts are hungry, cold, into the poison ivy and lost. Good thing Velma, the young “nerdy” scout, reads her handbook. And good thing Louie and Ralphie realizes when they need to call in reinforcements.

A cute story for early readers.

The Infamous Ratsos (and author Kara LaReau) have once again delivered a funny, relatable modern fable with a message to is easy to learn and digest. The characters are well drawn and realized, and I am definitely looking forward to spending more time with them in more books in the future.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Candlewick Press for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. This is a children's book. I enjoyed this book. It was cute, and I liked that not everyone was perfect. Everyone had a good time on the campout and learned something. 3.5 stars

Kara LaReau and the Ratsos do it again! I love this crazy crew and the adventures they go on. Camping was just the right thing for this group. Grandpa playing a part was absolutely hilarious. Loved this Ratsos adventure and sad it is the end.

I read the first Infamous Ratsos book last fall (it seems like years ago!) for my stepson's Battle of the Books, and was charmed by the Ratsos brothers and their father, Big Lou. In this fourth installment, Ralphie, Louie, and Big Lou head out on a camping trip with their Big City Scouts troop. The wilderness isn't anything like what Louie and Ralphie expect, and they discover the importance of asking for help.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC!

The fifth book in the Infamous Ratsos series Ralphie and Louie Ratso going on a camping trip with the Big City Scouts, with Grandpa Ratso as their guide. Even with Grandpa's guidance and experience as a Scoutmaster, the Scouts learn that camping isn't as easy as they think it is: pitching a tent, making a fire, and finding their way through the woods is hard! They have to learn to work together, and they have to learn that asking for help is the most important skill a Scout - or anyone - can have. With fun scout-meets-urban living references to badges like City Smarts and Cleanup, and scouting levels like Streets and Avenues instead of Cub and Weeblo, this is a cute addition to the series. Black and white cartoony illustrations of the Ratsos throughout the book really engage the reader. Enjoy a chapter sample from Candlewick's page and consider adding this series to your intermediate collection if you haven't yet.

I received an electronic ARC from Candlewick Press through NetGalley.
The Ratsos clan is back and excited to head out for a camping weekend to earn more Big City Scout badges. Readers get to see Grandpa and then Grandma join the "fun." The Ratsos learn that it's okay to reach for help and to support each other no matter how old they are.
Plenty of humor and action for younger to middle grade readers. LaReau continues to entertain with this family of rats. The illustrations draw readers in and also allow them to use their own imagination to enhance the story.

Still Has A Good Light Touch

This is the fourth book in the "Infamous Ratsos" series. In each book we follow the adventures of brothers Louie and Ralph as they, (and often their Dad), learn some important life lessons. In the first book the guys learned the difference between being "tough" guys and good guys. That was a tricky premise, and the author pulled it off exceptionally well.

This time out the boys are camping with Dad, Grandpa Ratso, and some other scouts. Grandpa's a hard case who thinks self-reliance means never ever asking for help. You know where that's going to go. The first half of the book demonstrates the down side of going it alone and the second half is an upbeat tale of cooperation and helpfulness.

The big appeal here is that the Ratsos are good kids, the scouts are all solid kids, and the grownups are willing to learn and adjust. While all of that is going on the kids have fun and amusing adventures, which keeps this from being dreary and heavyhanded. I eventually drifted away from books like the "Berenstain Bears" when they became, to me, preachy and humorless. These Ratso books certainly have a message, but they are lighter, more forgiving, and more cheerfully upbeat. This is a camping adventure first and a "problem" novel second, which is fine by me.

That also matters because this book seemed to read a little younger than did the first book. Short, direct sentences and brisk, fast paced scenes zip the reader right along. That seemed to suit the tale and the message, so it all worked. (I've seen K to 3rd grade recommendations on this and I'm definitely no expert, but that felt right.)

(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)