One of our favorite books to read with campers is 
Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran. 
We love it because it encourages children to play outside and use their imagination. One of our favorite campers, Jack Walt, was so inspired by the book that he wrote a story and alphabet poem about Roxaboxen and Turtle Creek Farm.  We know you will enjoy his wonderful writing!

Roxaboxen at Turtle Creek Farm
by Jack Walt
This summer I went to a camp called Turtle Creek Farm.  Every day, we went to the woods in the back of the camp and played Roxaboxen.
Roxaboxen is a game where you have to use your imagination.  Imagine you are living in the woods and you have to build a house out of sticks, rocks and pine trees.  Sticks need to be long and strong.  There has to be a space between three or more trees that are in a circle or a triangle.  Pine trees are for roofs and rocks are for decorations.
There are also stores in Roxaboxen.  The stores are your houses and glass gems are money.  Horses, cars and furniture are for sale!  The first thing I bought in Roxaboxen was a really cool stump that was my chair and foot rest.  I also bought a horse (they are really sticks with strings).  I am saving my gems and I already have twenty.  I need 10 more gems to purchase a car.  So if you want to play Roxaboxen come to Turtle Creek Farm!


The Turtle Creek Farm Alphabet Book
by Jack Walt
A is for alpaca, spitting if you scare it, but it       is very nice.

B is for baby bunnies hopping around the farm.

C is for crickets making noise on summer nights.

D is for deer running with their big antlers.

E is for eggs being laid on the farm.

F is for fish swimming in the pond.

G is for gems being spent at Roxaboxen.

H is for hay being eaten by goats.

I is for Indian statue standing in front of the   
  teepee.

J is for John catching water snakes in the   
   pond.

K is for Katydid making noise by rubbing their 
wings together.

L is for Llama who is watching kids run by.

M is for Miss Lucy taking care of the animals.

O is for Oscar who eats a lot of food.

P is for pinecones laying all over the farm.

Q is for queen bees flying around the flowers.

R is for Roxaboxen, the game we play in the  
  woods.

S is for skeletons on the spooky trail.

T is for the tarantula which has never bitten 
   anyone.

U is for unfortunately I cannot stay longer.

V is for vultures finding their prey.

W is for woods where we play Roxaboxen.

X is for Xtattic energy all day long.

Y is for YOU WILL LOVE THIS CAMP!

Z is for zillions of different insects. 

Marion called it Roxaboxen (she always knew the name of everything.) There across the road, it looked like any rocky hill--nothing but sand and rocks, some old wooden boxes, cactus and greasewood and thorny ocotillo--but it was a special place: a sparkling world of jeweled homes, streets edged with the whitest stones, and two ice cream shops.  Come with us there, where all you need to gallop fast and free is a long stick and a soaring imagination.

In glowing desert hues, artist Barbara Cooney has caught the magic of Alice McLerran's treasured land of Roxaboxen--a place that really was, and, once you've been there, always is.
Author and camper Jack Walt, ready to catch something.