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.

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.

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."

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.

by Harriet Theresa COMSTOCK
Published by Thomas Y. Crowell Co.:

  • Camp Brave Pine, 1913.

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."

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.

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."

by Stella M. FRANCIS
Published by M. A. Donahue & Co., Chicago & NY:


by Hildegard G. FREY
Published by A.L. Burt Co.:


by Harriet Pyne GROVE
Published by A.L. Burt Co.:

  • The Campfire Girls of Wyandotte Camp, 1931.
  • The Campfire Girls on the Trail, 1931.

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.

by Laura Lee HOPE
Published by Wanderer Books, of Simon & Schuster, NY:

  • The Bobbsey Twins: The Camp Fire Mystery, 1982.
    Illustrated by John Spiers.


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.


by Julia B. McKIBBIN
Published by The Abingdon Press:

  • Miriam, 1923. (#9 of series)

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

by Jane L. STEWART
Published by Saalfield Publishing Co., Akron, Ohio:


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."

by I. T. THURSTON (Ida Treadwell Thurston)


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.

by Margaret WIDDEMER
Published by J.B. Lippincott Co.:

  • Winona of the Camp Fire, 1915.
    Illustrated by Charles E. Meister.

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