Camp Fire in Children's Fiction Camp Fire has been the
backdrop for many adventure novels written for youth over
the years. The earliest was Irene Elliott Benson's How
Ethel Hollister Became a Campfire Girl, published in
1912 by M. A. Donohue & Co., Chicago. The most recent
Camp Fire novel for youth was Carolyn Keene and Franklin
Dixon's Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys Camp Fire
Stories, published 1984 by Wanderer Books, of Simon
& Schuster, NY.
Camp Fire has
appeared even in British children's fiction. The
"Abbey" series, by author British author Elsie
J. Oxenham, included several books that featured Camp
Fire Girl rituals and adventures. The author was born
Elsie Jeanette Dunkerley in 1885 in Southport, England.
She was the daughter of William Arthur Dunkerley, a
novelist who wrote under the pseudonym "John
Oxenham." The author took her pen name from her
father's pen name. By 1922, she was living in Worthing,
England, and she had become a "Guardian" in the
American organization of Camp Fire Girls. That is to say,
she was a Camp Fire leader! The subject of Camp Fire
Girls often came up in her stories.
The existence
of the following books has been documented. They are
arranged by author, with additional information where
known:
by Irene Elliott
BENSON
Published by M. A.
Donohue & Co., Chicago & NY:
- How
Ethel Hollister Became a Campfire Girl,
or Trip up the River, 1912; published again 1918 as Camp
Fire Girls Trip up the River.
- Ethel
Hollister's Second Summer as a Campfire
Girl, or Ethel
Hollister's Outing, 1912; published
again 1918 as Ethel Hollister's
Second Summer in Camp, or Campfire
Girl's Outing.
(Book cover has same illustration as CFG
in the Forest. Dust jacket has a
different illustration.)
- Campfire Girls' In The
Forest, or The Lost Trail Found,
1918. (No. 7 in series)
A three-in-one book: On page 147 the
first story ends, and another begins, River
and Forest. At the end of that
story, Edna's Sacrifice begins,
authored by Frances Henshaw Baden.
- Campfire Girls
Mountaineering, or Overcoming
all Obstacles, 1918.
This book has 22 chapters; title chapters
include "The Grand Council
Fire," "The Boy Scouts'
Invasion," "The Skull and
Cross-Bones," "A Mysterious
Disappearance," "Twelve Girls
in the Mountains."
- Camp-Fire Girls' Rural
Retreat, or The Quest of a
Secret, 1918.
- Camp Fire Girls Lake
Camp, 1918.
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by Amy E. BLANCHARD
Published by W. A. Wilde Co.:
- The Campfire Girls Of
Brightwood, 1915.
Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill.
- In Camp With The
Muscoday Camp Fire Girls, 1917.
Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill.
Book cover has colored picture of girl
holding an oar, next to a dock with boat.
- Fagots and Flames: A
Story of Winter Camp Fires, 1916.
Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill.
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by Edward M. CARNEY
Published by Van Camp Products Co.:
- Adventurous Billy and
Betty, or The Jolly Adventures
of Billy Van and Betty Camp, 1923.
This is a book of stories for young
children, stories about adventure and
fairies. Among the stories are
"Billy at the Boy Scouts' Camp,"
and "Betty Visits the Camp Fire
Girls."
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by Margaret CHRISTIAN
Published by Samuel Gabriel Sons & Co, NY:
- Camp Fire Girls Wohelo
Cheer; Betty, The Blue Bird, A
Story of the Camp Fire Girls, 1917
(two stories in one book).
Illustrated by Helen E Ohrenschall.
32 pages. Front and back covers have
beautiful color pictures of Camp Fire
Girls in camp setting (front) and
canoeing (back). Inside has four
additional full page color pictures (the
Council Fire, Beading and Basket Weaving,
Canoeing, Roasting Corn), and 26
line-drawings accompanying the text.
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by Harriet Theresa COMSTOCK
Published by Thomas Y. Crowell Co.:
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by "Marion DAVIDSON,"
pen name for Howard Roger Garis (1873-1962)
Published by
M. A. Donahue & Co., Chicago:
- The Secret of an Old Mill, 1913.
- The Campfire Girls on The Ice, or The
Mystery of a Winter Cabin, 1913. A
title in the "Girl's Prize
Library."
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by Julianne
DeVRIES, also known as Julian DeVries
Published by World Syndicate Pub. Co., which
became World Publishing Co.:
- The Campfire Girls As
Detectives, 1933.
- The Campfire Girls at
Holly House, 1933. (Number 4 in
series)
The 19 Campfire Girls of the Wa-Wan-Da
Camp of Oakdale are given, free and
clear, the deed to a huge colonial home
in Oakdale.
- The Campfire Girls on
Caliban Island, 1933.
- The Camp Fire Girls
Flying Around the Globe, 1933.
- The Banner Campfire
Girls as Federal Investigators,
1935.
- The Banner Camp Fire
Girls at the White House, 1935.
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by Elizabeth M. DUFFIELD
- Lucile, Torch Bearer,
1915

Illustrated by M. P. Taylor.
From the introduction: "The
organization of Camp Fire Girls, although
of recent origin, has had an astonishing
growth and bids fair to rival the Boy
Scout movement, with whose aims and
ideals it has many things in common. . .
. The Camp Fire is the symbol of the
happy, outdoor life with its wholesome
activities, and the various grades of
Woodgatherer, Firemaker and Torchbearer
are a spur to the girls' ambition . . .
Nothing but good can come from such an
organization, and it is the hope of the
author that the story of Lucile and her
comrades may stimulate the formation of
similar Camp Fire lodges in every town
and city of the country."
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by Stella M. FRANCIS
Published by M. A. Donahue & Co., Chicago
& NY:
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by Hildegard G. FREY
Published by A.L. Burt Co.:
- The
Campfire Girls in the Maine Woods; or
The Winnebagos Go Camping, 1916.
- The
Campfire Girls at School, or
The Wohelo Weavers, 1916.
The book is described as telling,
"how these seven live-wire girls
strive to infuse into their school life
the spirit of Work, Health and Love and
yet manage to get into more than their
share of mischief."
- Camp Fire Girls at
Onoway House, or The
Magic Garden, 1916.
- The
Campfire Girls Go Motoring, or
Along the Road That leads the Way, 1916.
- The Campfire Girls on
Ellen's Isle, or Trail of
the Seven Cedars, 1917.
- Campfire Girls Lark
and Pranks, or The House
of the Open Door, 1917.
- Campfire Girls on the
Open Road, or Glorify
Work, 1918.
- The
Campfire Girls Do Their Bit, or
Over the Top with The Windbags, 1919. (No. 8 in series)
- The Campfire Girls
Solve a Mystery: The Christmas Adventure
at Carver House, 1919.
- The
Campfire Girls At Camp Keewaydin, or
Paddles Down, 1920.
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by Harriet Pyne GROVE
Published by A.L. Burt Co.:
- The Campfire Girls of
Wyandotte Camp, 1931.
- The Campfire Girls on
the Trail, 1931.
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by Helen HART, pen name for
Samuel Edward Lowe:
Published by Whitman Publishing Co., Racine, WI:
- The Camp Fire Girls at
Pine-Tree Camp, 1914.
- The Camp Fire Girls at
Top o' The World, 1916.
- The Camp Fire Girls at
Lookout Pass, 1917.
- Camp Fire Girls Duty
Calls, 1919.
- The Camp Fire Girls
Success, 1919.
Illustrated by Alice Carsey.
- The Camp Fire Girls In
High School, about 1920.
Illustrated by Alice Carsey.
The cover of this book has an
illustration of young woman in straw
bonnet discovering an unconscious man in
the woods. End papers are illustrations
of Camp Fire Girls canoeing and cooking
in the woods while dressed in
flapper-like hats. Frontispiece is an
illustration of a young mother with a
child on knee knee, sitting next to a
hearth fire.
- The Camp Fire Girls At
Work, 1920.
Illustrated by Violet Moore Higgins.
Dedicated "to All Girls who have
helped in the service of their
country," a reference to WW I
service by Camp Fire Girls.
- Camp Fire Girls Red
Cross Work, 1920.
Illustrated by Alice Carsey.
- The Camp Fire Girls On
Hurricane Island, 1921.
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by Laura Lee HOPE
Published by Wanderer Books, of Simon &
Schuster, NY:
- The Bobbsey Twins: The
Camp Fire Mystery, 1982.
Illustrated by John Spiers.

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by Isabel HORNIBROOK
Published
by Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co.:
- Girls of the
Morning-Glory Camp Fire, 1916.
Illustrated
by John Goss.
- Camp Fire Girls and
Mt. Greylock, 1917.
- Pemrose Lorry, Camp
Fire Girl
Published by Little:
- Pemrose Lorry, Radio
Amateur, 1923.
- Pemrose Lorry, Sky
Sailor, 1924.
- Pemrose Lorry,
Torchbearer, 1926.
|
by E. A. Watson HYDE
Published by Rand McNally:
- Little Sisters to the
Camp Fire Girls, or The Blue
Birds of Grassybanks, 1918.
Illustrated by Ella Dolbear Lee.

|
by Carolyn KEENE and Franklin
W. DIXON
Published by Wanderer Books:
- Nancy Drew and The
Hardy Boys Camp Fire Stories: Six New
Mysteries, 1984.
Illustrated by Paul Frame.

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by Julia B.
McKIBBIN
Published by The Abingdon Press:
- Miriam, 1923. (#9
of series)
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by Elsie Jeanette (Dunkerley)
OXENHAM
Born Southport, England, in 1885, the author was
the daughter of William Arthur Dunkerley, a
novelist who wrote under the pseudonym "John
Oxenham." The author took her pen name from
her father's pen name. By 1922, she was living in
Worthing, England, and was a Camp Fire Girls
leader. The subject of Camp Fire Girls often came
up in her stories. Check this off-site link for
more information about Oxenham: http://www.bufobooks.demon.co.uk/html/faq10.html.
- Camp Fire Torment
- School Camp Fire,
published by W. R. Chambers, illustrated
by Percy Tarrant.
 |
- The
Abby Girls Play Up, (#21)
The following synopsis is from
http://home.pacific.net.au/~bcooper/synopsis.htm
"Cecily has been
'adopted' by the Guides. ...
Maribel and Rosalind come down to
visit Cecily after they have
heard bad reports about her
temper and supposed rudeness to
Joan at a folk dancing class.
They drive her to Joan's house to
explain and apologise. ...
Maribel, Rosalind, and Cecily are
invited to spend a weekend with
Joy, and the Guides convince
Maidlin to run a Campfire Group
for the poorer girls of the
neighbourhood. ... Rosamund
returns from Switzerland for a
visit, partly because she has
seen a photo of Cecily taken at
the Campfire Meeting, and
recognises her as the long-lost
daughter of an inmate of the
Sanatorium. The novel ends with
Cecily about to become reunited
with her mother.
|
 |
- Maidlin
Bears the Torch, (#30)
published by R.T.S / G.O.P., 1937.
The following synopsis is from
http://home.pacific.net.au/~bcooper/synopsis.htm
"Benedicta,
Jim and their mother decide to
visit the Abbey ruins, Maidlin,
deputising for her aunt Ann
Watson, shows them round.
Learning that Benedicta had been
a Camp Fire Girl, she invites her
to stay on to attend a Camp Fire
ceremony that evening. At the end
of it, Jim comes to tell
Benedicta her mother is in
hospital after a car accident.
Benedicta is invited to stay at
the Abbey overnight. She meets
Jen Marchwood, who tells her that
her daughter, Rosemary, may have
to have an operation and that she
and her husband Ken are really
worried.
|
 |
- Abbey
Champion, (#39) 1946.
The following synopsis is from
http://home.pacific.net.au/~bcooper/synopsis.htm
"Littlejan
is to stay on at the Hall and to
go to school at Wycombe with
Jansy. Maid gets married. Rachel
and Damaris, Jansy and the twins
were her bridesmaids. Miss Macey
and the Hamlet Club queens attend
as well as the Camp Fire Girls.
Littlejan talks to Mary Dorothy
about the Hamlet Club, saying
that none of the senior girls are
interested in it any more and the
dances are stale. Mary persuades
her to talk to Joan, who suggests
she talks to the President about
the problem. Jen is upset because
Kenneth is not recovering from
his car accident in Yorkshire.
She decides to return to
Yorkshire to be with him. Mary
Dorothy goes with her to
help...."
|
 |
- A
School Camp Fire, 1917.
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by Margaret PENROSE
Published by Goldsmith Publishing Co., NY:
- The Campfire Girls on
the Program, or Singing and
Reciting at the Sending Station
- The Campfire Girls of
Roselawn, or A Strange Message
from the Air (actually
written by Walter Bertram FOSTER).
- The Campfire Girls at
Forest Lodge, or The Strange Hut
in the Swamp (1930s).
- The Camp Fire Girls on
Station Island
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by "Harriet RIETZ,"
pen name for Samuel LOWE
Published by Whitman Publishing Co., Racine, WI.:
- The Camp Fire Girls
Week End Party, about 1935.
Cover illustrated by A.E. Shard.
Interior illustrations by Alice Carsey.
- The Camp Fire Girls
and Aunt Madge
(Story of an orphan girl)
- Mary Lee: The Camp
Fire Girl, 1917.
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by Lillian Elizabeth ROY
- The Blue Birds of
Happy Times Nest, pub. by A.L. Burt,
NY, 1914; pub. by Platt & Peck, NY,
1914.
- The
Blue Bird's Winter Nest, pub. by A.L. Burt, NY, 1916;
pub. by Platt & Peck, NY, 1916.
- The Blue Bird's Uncle
Ben, pub. by A.L. Burt, NY, 1918;
pub. by Platt & Nourse, NY, 1917.
- The Blue Birds at
Happy Hills, pub. by A.L. Burt, NY,
1919; pub. by Platt & Nourse, NY,
1919.
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by Margaret Love SANDERSON
First three books published by Reilly and
Britton:
The Camp Fire Girls at
Hillside, 1913.
- The Camp Fire Girls at
Top o' the World, 1916. (Republished
in 1936 as Molly Wren's Promise.)
- Camp Fire Girls At
Look Out Pass, 1917; Illustrated by
Alice Carsey.
Next books published by Reilly
and Lee Co., Chicago:
- The Camp Fire Girls at
Pine-Tree Camp
- The Camp Fire Girls in
Old Kentucky, 1919.
- The Camp Fire Girls on
a Yacht, 1920.
- The Camp Fire Girls at
Driftwood Heights
- The Camp Fire Girls on
Hurricane Island, 1921.
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by Jane L. STEWART
Published by Saalfield Publishing Co., Akron,
Ohio:
- A
Campfire Girl's First Council Fire, or
The Camp Fire Girls in the Woods, 1914.
Story of two girls living on a ranch who
run away. The Camp Fire girls help them
catch the bad guys and save their father.
- A Campfire Girl's Chum,
1914. (Volume II in series). [Also found
at THIS LINK.]
- The
Camp Fire Girls at Long Lake, or
Bessie King in Summer Camp, 1914.
- The Camp Fire Girls at
the Seashore, or Bessie King's
Happiness, 1914. (#6 in a series)
- The Camp Fire Girls In
The Mountains, or Bessie King`s
Strange Adventure, 1914. (Vol. 4)
- The
Campfire Girls on the Farm, or Bessie
King's New Chum, 1914. (Vol. 2)
Another
book in the series about the Manasquan
Campfire Girls: Zara, Bessie, and their
friends.
- A Campfire Girl's
Happiness, 1914.
- A
Campfire Girl's Test of Friendship, 1914.
- A Camp Fire Girl in
Summer Camp, 1914.
Chapters include (1) A Groundless
Jealousy; (2) Good-Bye to the Farm; (3)
Long Lake; (4) A Reckless Excursion; (5)
The Gypsy Camp; (6) A Serious Joke; (7) A
Thief in the Night; (8) The Pursuit, and
(9) An Unexpected Alley.
- The
Camp Fire Girls In the Woods, or Bessie
King's First Council Fire, 1914.
[To read the entire
book, CFG in the Woods, CLICK
HERE.]
- The
Camp Fire Girls on the March, or
Bessie King's Test of Friendship, 1914.
At least three different covers were used
for this book: One is the same as CFG
In the Woods, three girls cooking at
a camp fire. A second shows a single girl
with a clear drawing of a CFG armband. A
third shows a girl at a camp site holding
a fish.
- A Campfire Girl's
Adventure, 1927.
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by W. K. TATE, Sara WITHERS,
and Hetty S. BROWNE
Published by Johnson
Publishing Co.:
- The Child's World,
Fifth Reader, 1917.
This easy reader for children included "Proverbs"
by Benjamin Franklin, "Stealing
A Cannon Ball" by Henry Ward
Beecher, "A Lincoln Story"
by U.S. Grant, "Pandora's
Box" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, "The
Breaking of the Light" by Helen
Keller, and the Boy Scout Law and the
Camp Fire Girls Law. What is noteworthy
is that the Boy Scout Law and the Camp
Fire Girls Law were seen as a
"brother-sister act."
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by I. T. THURSTON (Ida
Treadwell Thurston)
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by Margaret VANDERCOOK
Published by John C. Winston Co., Philadelphia,
PA:
The
Campfire Girls at Sunrise Hill, 1913.
- The Camp Fire Girls
Amid the Snows, 1913.
- Camp Fire Girls Across
The Sea, 1914.
- The
Camp Fire Girls in the Outside World, 1914.
- The Camp Fire Girls
Careers, 1915.
- The Campfire Girls in
After Years, 1915.
- The Camp Fire Girls at
the End of the Trail, about 1917.
- The Camp Fire Girls -
on the Edge of the Desert, 1917.
- The Camp Fire Girls
Behind the Lines
- The Camp Fire Girls in
Glorious France, 1919.
- The Campfire Girls by
the Blue Lagoon
- The Camp Fire Girls in
Merrie England
- The Camp Fire Girls on
the Field of Honor, 1918.
- The Camp Fire Girls at
Half Moon Lake, 1921.
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by Margaret WIDDEMER
Published by J.B. Lippincott Co.:
- Winona of the Camp
Fire, 1915.
Illustrated by Charles E. Meister.
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