Road Trip! Camping with the Four Vagabonds: Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, and John Burroughs

by Claudia Friddell, Jeremy Holmes (Illustrator)

Join Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, and John Burroughs on their pioneering camping trips during the early 1900s in this energetic and entertaining nonfiction picture-book adventure.

After years of inventing things that other people needed, Thomas Edison and Henry Ford realized there was something they needed—a vacation! So, the famous inventors packed up Ford's Model T and invited their good friends Harvey Firestone and John Burroughs to join them as "the Four Vagabonds" hit America's back roads to enjoy the country's natural beauty, fireside chats, and frolicking fun with friends—all while inspiring future generations to invent camping adventures of their own.

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, History, Childrens, Middle Grade, Biography, Historical

40 pages, Hardcover

Published August 16, 2022

About the author

For children’s author Claudia Friddell, discovering exciting stories from long ago is a lot like treasure hunting. Claudia's narrative nonfiction books include: Saving Lady Liberty, Grace Banker and Her Hello Girls Answer the Call, George Washington’s Spies, Goliath, Hero of the Great Baltimore Fire, To the Front! Clara Barton Braves the Battle of Antietam, Road Trip! Cool Off and Ride, and her new YA book, The Mysterious Virginia Hall, out now! A former teacher, Claudia loves to share her journeys and joys of bringing history to life through books with students, teachers, and history lovers of all ages. When she’s not visiting schools, digging for treasure in the library, or writing at her home in Baltimore, Claudia is reading, walking, and kayaking on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

Reviews

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Friddell's lighthearted account of the camping road trips of the four famous friends is a hoot and the information provided is fascinating for travel and history buffs. Jeremy Holmes's delightful illustrations steal the show and the book design which includes historical photographs and eclectic information is outstanding. A niche book for the right reader and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

My only reservation is that Ford's virulent antisemitism colors any account of him and Friddell makes no reference to this element. I know that the subject of the book was travel, camping and the adventures of 4 friends but perhaps this could have been mentioned in the back matter.

[Shiloah · Rating 5 out of 5]

2025: Courtney (11) read aloud to the family.

[Theediscerning · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting enough book, but one I can really only see having much appeal within the US – here in Britain it featured a collective noun for the four characters I'd never come across, and one of the four is really not well known, if at all. Henry Ford, the Firestone of Firestone tyres, Thomas Edison and a nature expert befriend each other, and go on some of the first road trip styled holidays together, enjoying the more rural corners of the 48, even toting a president along with them for one week in their caravan of cars, prototype RVs, mobile kitchens and lord knows what else. Oddly, their renown and the fact they filmed capers for the cinema, kind of meant they packed it up in the end before they got completely swamped by people gawking at the escapade.

While some of the visuals here looked a little ungainly, it was a complete surprise to find the medium used was more or less paper collage; some of the scenes such as a top-down view of their dining table, surrounded by Edison's battery-powered strings of fairy lights, must have taken far more patience than I could bear. As for the script, it is a little imbalanced in being so child-friendly then dumping so much in the end-matter, but – especially if you tune out the attempts at quippy dialogue – it's a pleasant enough read. If this is really the beginning of cross-country motorised camping trips, then this is an incident of history we ought to know about; if however this is just resurrecting something whose modern equivalent would be a holiday video that goes viral, then I end up firmer on the ground of this being a niche topic. Still, a niche topic done well – three and a half stars.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hmm... how to rate this? It's a fun concept for a book and rich with possibility, but I the execution is a little lacking. It makes these "great men" more accessible -- Edison, Ford, etc. camping, chopping wood, dealing with flat tires -- then, it reminds us that they were not your average American and that, eventually, throngs of fans and reporters followed them on their road trips, that they often had elaborate set-ups with servants and weren't entirely "roughing it." I feel that the story proper isn't detailed enough, it doesn't give us a real sense of what these men were like, I wanted more of their personality to shine through and I also wasn't a huge fan of the illustration style. I also wanted more about Burroughs and whether he viewed nature with a respectful, perhaps preservation-minded, lens or whether he held the "mine for the taking" mentality that was rather prevalent at the time. That said, the back matter is very good (though I would have liked a timeline) and full of information, anecdotes, direct quotes and photos. I really enjoyed reading the back matter. There's also an extensive bibliography, including "Related Children's Books" and DVD and online collections and even a list of relevant Museums and Historical Sites. So, I would still recommend checking this out if you find the subject matter interesting.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun way to step into a small window of history. Starting in 1914, Edison, Ford, Firestone and Burroughs, nicknamed the Four Vagabonds, set out to explore the wilds of North America in a (Ford made) car (with Firestone tires). This slightly odd picture book shares their adventures and inventions throughout the years. Starting with Edison, Ford and Burroughs the group explores the Florida everglades. Once they added Firestone, their adventures expanded through California, Pennsylvania and New England. Along the way the added to their inventions in order to make life on the road a bit easier. Edison added lights to make their campsite more accessible. Ford revamped one of the cars to add a refrigerator and other kitchen gizmos. The four friends spent many years traveling together throughout the United States until the vacations began to feel more like work. Illustrations are a bit odd with super pale vagabonds and green, orange and yellow backgrounds. The panels are crowded with call out boxes that look like tickets or stamps attached in the corners.
Ford and Edison, especially Ford, were renown anti-semites. It’s hard to see Ford represented as a jolly guy out on vacation with his best buds when his prejudices at the time were so destructive.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

What happens when you mix Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, John Burroughs, and a camping trip??? The historic road trip of a lifetime! This colorful picture book follows the true story of these four adventurers as they embark on a series of camping trips around the U.S. What will they see and who will they invite next?
The story is easy to follow and the illustrations are whimsical and inviting. While the picture book was cute, my favorite part of Road Trip was the additional information at the end. I love books that introduce the topic for younger children, but provide resources for older children to discover and research more. Road Trip includes two pages of background information about this unlikely friendship and their adventures, two pages of original photographs with captions, a selected bibliography, a list of sources for further study, and more! This book would make a great introduction to unit studies about U.S. geography or any of these men and their place in history.

*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little too laudatory of the internal combustion engine without acknowledgement of how our dependence on it is killing us and all other life. Not enough info. about what was so wonderful about the places they went besides 'peace and quiet and nature' which they could have gotten if they'd focused on establishing nature reserves closer to cities (for everyone, not just those who could take an extended trip and didn't mind exploiting nature).*

I never got the feeling of knowing the men, either, though there were bits of description. And though there's lots of back matter there was not any data, no mini-bios including age, no lists of which trips included which members (and wives, and guests) and where they went.

So much potential. I was excited by title, premise, cover art, first few pages, and then it all bottomed out imo.

*Yes, I know, there wasn't an awareness of pollution. Or even of wrecking the rainforest to get rubber for tires. But still. Some sensitivity to invasion into unspoiled wilderness is not too much to expect, given John Muir and others.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

It appears that camping began with these men and how popular it became that they went on wilderness excursions. I love that a first generation idea of a kitchen on wheels was part of this story and that there were many who followed them on adventures, though that is why they stopped. Being that all of these men were well known and 3 of the 4 were quite rich is likely more interesting to me, an adult, than my student readers. The illustrations by Jeremy Holmes are fascinating and I had to peruse them again without reading after I read the book as I was sure I missed things along the way. There is an impressive backmatter and an afterward that I will look over with students if I highlight this book in my library.

Unfortunately I am left wondering if the book will work with my students at all...

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! I would definitely purchase Road Trip! for my niece and nephew.

The Four Vagabonds (Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone and John Borroughs) took several Road Trips! between 1914 and 1924. Loved the illustrations by Jeremy Holmes and the text by Claudia Friddell. Loved the photographs at the end of the book and the fun stories. So glad that this fun American history has been recreated for youngsters! Thank you!

The centennial of the RV went relatively unnoticed. in the midst of covid.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to review Road Trip! in exchange for an honest review. Also thank you to Claudia Friddell (author), Jeremy Holmes (illustrator) and Calkins Creek imprint of Astra Books for Young Readers (publisher). Publication date is 16 Aug 2022..

[Panda Incognito · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would have preferred more realistic illustrations, but I enjoyed this entertaining look into a little-known part of history. Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone (of Firestone Tires) and John Burroughs (the nature writer) enjoyed taking road trips together, and popularized the concept of using cars to take a camping trip. There are lots of interesting details in the main text, and there is a wealth of additional information in the author's note at the end.

This is a great nonfiction picture book for people who are interested in the lives of inventors, or who enjoy vignettes from forgotten parts of history. This book also provides a great, real-life representation of male friendship.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally, I wanted to read this for the cover, but this book needs to be read because it’s fantastic. This is a true story of four very famous people: Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, and John Burroughs. They went camping together and there are pictures and home movies of their wild adventures. I love a book that teaches me something I did not know, and this fits that bill perfectly. What I think is the best thing about this book or the illustrations. They feel old timey, like 1920s, but they are so vibrant and colorful and wonderfully odd that children cannot resist picking up this book and flipping through the pages.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC to review.

A look at four men (Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone, and John Burroughs), inventors, poets, businessmen, and friends. Their escapades contributed to the popularization of camping.

The illustrations are crisp and whimsical, and probably my favorite part. Coming in a close second would be the extensive back matter and bonus information. The story itself ranges from the habits of the men to their relationship to their love of nature.

Entertaining, visually appealing, and informative.

[Brittany · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book as an adult reader for the AR Diamond Book Award. Personally, I don't think there is anything in this book that will hold the interest of a child. It's all about the famous men that created the famous things we still use today, but other than making them more "human or down to earth" to the world today....not a whole lot here. *The illustrations were very odd to me. I'm not sure if it was the style or the few colors used. Some may even find them to be a bit creepy. This one is a hard pass for me.

[Katherine Szerdy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ book to review:
Parents with bored children, get thee hence to the library and pick up a copy of this gem of an educational picture book! This story with darling illustrations revolves around the real life friendship between the greatest inventors and a naturalist of the early 20th century! I have learned more history, science, language from picture books, including this treasure, than I have from textbooks! Remember, as my fifth grade English teacher Mrs. Kosinski once said, we are never too old for a picture book❣️❣️❣️

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this picture book! I had no idea these men were buddies and thinking of them romping around on camping trips basically starting reality TV/film by recording their escapades and even competing in silly challenges is hilarious to me. I loved the real pictures at the back and the short anecdotes told in their own words. I don't know how many kids will be enthralled with this book but I thoroughly enjoyed this picture book!

[Elizabeth Seibel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great nonfiction text about the United States, inventions, innovators, and friendship. My students will love the photographs and the illustrations as well as the fun stories about the road trip. The information at the back of the book allows students to dig deeper into the text. Thank you #netgalley for giving me a copy of this book.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little-known (to me, at least) history of road trips and camping trips four famous men took together (Edison, Ford, Firestone, Burroughs). An interesting enough story, but the illustrations sell it - unique with cut paper and using a limited palette of basically green, orange, black, white, and yellow. The author's note and real life pictures of these historical figures were a nice touch.

[Donna Yliniemi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful fall-colored illustrations and a story of four pioneers and inventors in our country that take us on a cross-country road trip that actually happened. The end of the book has black and white photos and informational text about the real road trips that took place at the beginning of motor vehicle travel across our country.

[Robyn Westfall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Goodreads giveaways for this fun children’s book about the road trips taken by Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, and John Burroughs.

The illustrations by Jeremy Holmes are fabulous!

I especially liked the vagabonds on their fellow vagabonds and funny camping stories section.

[Edwina Book Anaconda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I received this book, free of charge, in exchange for an honest review.

Learn a little bit of history, while having fun, on this little romp down the road with the four vagabonds.
Delightfully illustrated throughout with bonus black and while photos at the end.
Sure to charm both young and old alike.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an intriguing story, and I learned many new things about Edison and Ford. I loved all of the backmatter, quotes, and resources at the end. What I didn't love about this book was the bright green and orange colors. There may have been a reason for these colors, but the style was not my favorite. I also found the black text on a green background difficult to read at times.

[Dina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this collective biography! It reads like a picture book and contains a little known topic! It is well-written and shows the friendship of 4 important people of the time: Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, and John Burroughs and how they invented "camping adventures of their own road trips." I am excited to add this book to our next book order! Two thumbs up for this book!

[Jana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would be a good mentor text for students writing about their own summer adventures. Kid-friendly language and vibrant illustrations tell the story of a famous road trip that took place over 100 years ago that included Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone and John Burroughs. Extensive notes and resources in the back make this a good resource for further study about these inventors.

[Joni Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

We love a good road trip but who knew this was how it began!!! Of course the names in this book are super familiar but I had no idea they were friends. I loved reading about their road trips and their inventions.

[Jillian S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is adorable. It's a really cute story about the camping trips Edison, Ford, Burroughs and Firestone used to take together. The pictures are amazing

[Kristin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Visually, this book is incredibly difficult to read. The illustrations are almost frightening. The pages are busy, full of clashing colors, pictures, and an abundance of text.

[Relyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh this book! The art by Jeremy Holmes is amazing. The vocabulary is wonderful. The information is fun and inspiring. I love this one!

[Kelsey Yates · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who knew? Such a funny story, and I love the photos at the end.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Claudia does it again--engaging historical nonfiction fun.

[Michelle Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story itself is fun and the backmatter is really a treat.