A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever

A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever is children's book written and illustrated by Marla Frazee and set in Malibu, CA.^[1] It tells the story of two boys named James and Eamon, who go to a nature camp for a week and stay with Eamon's unique grandparents. The story relates the growth of a friendship between two boys enjoying a week away from parents.^[2] The book was named a Caldecott Honor Book.

Plot

The story begins with a boy named Eamon, who is staying at his grandparents’ house in Malibu, CA. ^[3] for a week while he attends a day camp. His friend James also gets to come and stay with his grandparents’. When they first arrive at the house Eamon's grandfather Bill asks the two boys if they want to go to the penguin exhibition, happening at the museum. The boys decline as they both wish to play inside together. The next morning the two boys set off to their first day at Nature Camp, after their first day they realized that Nature Camp may not be what they anticipated.

Throughout the first night the two boys ate banana waffles, jumped on a mattress and played. Before they were about to leave for day two of camp, Bill gave both of them a pair of binoculars and things to find with them. As the week progressed so did Eamon's and James' friendship, it was even possible that the two friends became one person. The grandparents gave them the nickname “Jamon.” Each day Bill would ask Jamon to keep thinking about going to the penguin exhibition, but the boys declined the offer. They wanted to say and do what any other boy would do, eat and play video games.

When the week of camp was over, the boys and grandparents decided to sit together and have a popcorn party. But the grandparents both fell asleep on the couch. Jamon decided to go outside and look at the view. When night had risen the two boys came up with the idea to build their own penguin exhibition as a surprise. It ended up being their favourite part of the whole trip, and it was the best surprise for the grandparents. When their mothers arrived at the grandparents’ house they said thanks, gave them a hug and waddled like penguins to the car.

Production

A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever was inspired by the author's youngest sister and his friend (Frazee's editor's sister). They were also staying at the grandparents’ house for a week in Malibu while they were going to a nature day camp. When the two boys were back at the author’s house, she wrote a thank-you note to the grandparents. But her editor said you should do it in the form of a piece of paper. Taking that advice, Marla asked the boys to draw pictures into a piece of paper, and they sent the letter off. There had been many people who said that the author needed to make this into a book, but the person who made her do that was her older aunt. She was taking him to the airport when he was reading the letter. She said “he kept cracking up reading it…and when he was done he said "that’s hilarious, you need to do something with that"”,^[4] and that was when she took it into her publisher. After 25 revisions, and 10 dummies ‘’A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever’’ was produced, and published.^[5]

Reception

Reviews were positive. A review in Horn Book stated “in this tongue-in-cheek story, Frazee's text plays straight man to her comic illustrations, and the clever interplay between the two fuels the books humor”^[6]

Awards

• Boston Globe/Horn Book Honor Award for Picture Book (2008)
• a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year (2008)
• a Kirkus Best Book of the Year
• Delaware Diamond Award Winner
• Caldecott Honor Book (2009)

References