Camilla Chameleon Book

In this fantastically funny picture book, a young chameleon girl learns that standing out isn’t so bad after all.

Children's Literature

It seems as if Mrs. McNilly's penchant for Cream of Chameleon soup during her pregnancy has had a strange effect on her bouncing baby girl, Camilla. Camilla blends in quite literally. As she grows it is a feat that comes in handy when visiting the doctor or on the nights when liver and onions with fried cabbage is on the menu. At school Camilla becomes one with the blackboard, causing her teacher to become quite flummoxed. It is because Camilla so loves Fizzy Fizzy Make Ya Dizzy Rootin' Tootn' Root Beer that an enormous belch finally reveals the embarrassed girl. Instead of punishment, Mrs. Floxbottom marches Camilla straight to the drama department where she is the perfect helper for dumbstruck actors who have forgotten their lines. Not long after, the McNilly's have a bouncing baby boy named Terry who has a strange resemblance to a pterodactyl, the result it would appear of one too many cans of Cream of Pterodactyl soup. The story is silly and downright quirky but not without appeal. Kids will giggle at Camilla's ability to disappear and may secretly wish they had the power of camouflage. They will feel quite smug when they can see Camilla on the ledge of the chalkboard while her teacher searches frantically for her. The whimsical oil paintings are a perfect match for the story that bears a bit of the bizarre and the weird but is quite clever and amusing.