Camp-fire and Wigwam

Ellis, Edward Sylvester, 1840-1916Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.4

Word count: 407K words
Chapters: 41

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Camp-fire and Wigwam by Edward Sylvester EllisAuthor: Ellis, Edward Sylvester, 1840-1916,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Jul 4, 2008

Editor's review

Camp-fire and Wigwam is a juvenile adventure novel by Edward S. Ellis, available as a free public-domain eBook from Project Gutenberg. Ellis was a prolific writer of popular fiction in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, often setting his work on the North American frontier and in hunting and adventure. Classified as juvenile literature, the book moves at a brisk pace, with scenes built around camp, wilderness, and encounters between characters, carrying the tension and moral lessons common to adventure stories of its era. Its value for readers lies in offering a direct sense of the narrative conventions, language, and frontier imagination of early English-language juvenile adventure fiction, and it can also serve as light reading for the study of popular and children's literature. Because it was written long ago, its portrayals of Indigenous peoples and frontier conflict reflect the prejudices of the time and require critical awareness today. The electronic edition is convenient for casual reading and suits either English extensive reading or supplementary study of genre fiction.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy early English juvenile adventure stories and want to experience the roots of genre fiction
Learners who need free English public-domain novels for extensive reading practice
Readers interested in the North American frontier and 19th-century popular literature
Readers who want to study the narrative conventions and period attitudes of children's adventure fiction

Not a good fit for

Parents and readers looking for modern children's-literature values and diverse perspectives
Readers sensitive to the stereotypes of Indigenous peoples in early frontier narratives
Literary readers who prefer complex structure and deep psychological characterization

Reading tips

Read it as a specimen of genre fiction and note how the adventure plot advances and how characters are set up.
For English extensive reading, read through the plot first, then return to passages describing camp and wilderness scenes.
While reading, take critical notes on how the book represents Indigenous peoples and frontier conflict.
If used for children, an adult should read along and explain the period prejudices.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book suitable for children to read directly?

Use caution. Although it is a juvenile adventure novel, it was written long ago, and its portrayals of Indigenous peoples and frontier conflict carry period prejudices and stereotypes. If children are to read it, an adult should read it first, remove or explain problematic passages, and discuss them with the child to build critical understanding rather than presenting it as a harmless adventure story.

What is the literary value of this book?

Its value lies mainly in the history of genre fiction: it displays the common conventions of English juvenile adventure novels from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, such as wilderness adventure, camp life, encounters, and moral lessons. For readers studying popular literature, children's literature, and frontier imagination, it is a light and direct sample rather than a classic known for depth.

How difficult is the English, and what level is it suitable for?

As early popular fiction, the language is generally plain and the narrative is plot-driven, but some vocabulary and sentence patterns bear the marks of the period and may include frontier-life terms. Readers with intermediate English can read it through with a dictionary; beginners should choose an annotated edition or a guided reader, grasp the main plot first, and then look closely at the language.

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About the author

Ellis, Edward Sylvester, 1840-1916 Author

Edward Sylvester Ellis (1840-1916) was an American author best known for adventure and historical works for young readers. Because public information about him is limited, biographical details remain difficult to establish with certainty, yet the library holds as many as 58 of his works, indicating that he was a prolific and long-active writer. His writing often centers on frontier settlement, mountain exploration, colonial warfare, and historical figures, as seen in The Great Cattle Trail, The Riflemen of the Miami, and The Cave in the Mountain; these works are tightly plotted and emphasize action and courage, making them well suited to younger readers. He also wrote character sketches such as Thomas Jefferson, a Character Sketch and reference works such as 1000 Mythological Characters Briefly Described, reflecting a broad interest in history, mythology, and popular knowledge.