Freddy and Mr Camphor
Encyclopedia
Freddy and Mr. Camphor (1944) is the 11th book in the humorous children's series Freddy the Pig
, written by American author Walter R. Brooks
and illustrated by Kurt Wiese
. It tells of Freddy's adventures confronting trespassers when he takes a job as an estate caretaker.
After they leave Freddy settles comfortably into caretaking. Meals are served in the main house, while he lives on a luxury houseboat. The restful circumstances are interrupted by two sorts of trespassers, a gang of rats led by the malicious Simon, and a human criminal, Zebedee Winch, accompanied by his dirty-faced son. The rats are destroying everything that displeases them in Camphor's attic, while Zebedee and his son, finding that the cook is Zebedee’s runaway wife, take advantage by moving in to "visit" her.
When Camphor returns for a weekend, Zebedee frames Freddy by stealing Camphor's things. Freddy is fired, and returns to the Bean Farm. The animals are undecided how to respond. Meanwhile, since the United States is fighting World War II
, the President is encouraging people to grow food in their own Victory Gardens
. The farm bugs and insects throw a party where they patriotically decide to stop eating farm vegetables. The party is dampened when the rooster Charles starts one of his long-winded speeches. After he is forced to stop, the horsefly Zero crashes the party, telling everyone the war is somebody else's problem. Freddy drives Zero away, but now he has another enemy threatening revenge.
Mrs. Wiggins the Cow and Freddy are discussing Zebedee when they hear Jinx the Cat yowling. Instead of a problem, they discover the other animals playing Camphor and Bannister's game, but testing proverbs. Jinx, having tipped his milk dish over, howls until Mrs. Bean refills it, proving that it is useful to cry over spilt milk. Jinx tells the dog that "Any stick is good enough to beat a dog with". The dog replies that there are more ways than one way to skin a cat. Freddy joins the game, but attention soon turns to his problems.
The animals decide that Freddy, Jinx and the mice will sneak into Camphor’s house to implicate the Winches as thieves. However they are trapped inside when a door locks shut behind them. Freddy disguises himself in human clothes, and manages to fool Bannister long enough for Jinx and the mice to arrange his escape. The Winches recognize Freddy, but by this point nobody believes them, and the sheriff is called. Zebedee Winch tries to escape, but the sheriff catches him when Freddy's friend eagle forces his car off the road. The sheriff drives to Zebedee's house, and discovering Camphor's stolen property, arrests him.
To get Simon and his relatives out of their holes in Camphor's attic, Freddy employs fleas, but there still is a fight before he forces them to leave. Camphor forgives the Winches and allows them to work on his estate. Freddy goes to a patriotic bug meeting, where the horsefly Zero is allowed to debate Charles the Rooster. Losing the debate, he physically threatens Freddy, who has prepared by bringing friend toads; when the fly comes to sting, he is eaten.
Having been forgiven by Camphor, and helped restore his damaged portraits, Freddy tells Camphor the whole truth about what has happened. When Camphor thinks Freddy should write a book about it, Bannister produces the proverb, "There's no friend like a good book".
). Zebedee Winch is a hardened criminal, openly discussing burglary and bank robbing. Simon is a vicious, deceitful rat who heads a family gang, often plotting revenge on Freddy.
, endpapers, and a full color cover depicting scenes from the book. Each chapter starts with a half page illustration, while a full page illustration is placed close to an event within each chapter. Unusually for the series, starting with Chapter Four the half page illustration is a scene from the previous chapter, rather than the upcoming one.
Freddy the Pig
Freddy the Pig is the central figure in a series of 26 books written between 1927 and 1958 by American author Walter R. Brooks, and illustrated by Kurt Wiese. Consisting of 25 novels and one poetry collection, they focus on the adventures of a group of animals living on a farm in rural upstate New...
, written by American author Walter R. Brooks
Walter R. Brooks
Walter Rollin Brooks was an American writer best remembered for his short stories and children's books, particularly those about Freddy the Pig and other anthropomorphic animal inhabitants of the "Bean farm" in upstate New York.Born in Rome, New York, Brooks attended college at the University of...
and illustrated by Kurt Wiese
Kurt Wiese
Kurt Wiese was an award-winning German-born book illustrator. Wiese wrote and illustrated 20 children's books and illustrated another 300 for other authors.- Biography :Wiese was born in Minden, Germany...
. It tells of Freddy's adventures confronting trespassers when he takes a job as an estate caretaker.
Plot summary
When Freddy needs a change from running the animal newspaper and the animal bank that he established in earlier books, and he sees an offer to work as a caretaker on a local estate. He meets the eccentric Jimson Camphor and his proper butler, Bannister, who, Camphor explains, is "dignified for both of us". They have a running game reciting proverbs to match a situation, then arguing about whose is more appropriate.After they leave Freddy settles comfortably into caretaking. Meals are served in the main house, while he lives on a luxury houseboat. The restful circumstances are interrupted by two sorts of trespassers, a gang of rats led by the malicious Simon, and a human criminal, Zebedee Winch, accompanied by his dirty-faced son. The rats are destroying everything that displeases them in Camphor's attic, while Zebedee and his son, finding that the cook is Zebedee’s runaway wife, take advantage by moving in to "visit" her.
When Camphor returns for a weekend, Zebedee frames Freddy by stealing Camphor's things. Freddy is fired, and returns to the Bean Farm. The animals are undecided how to respond. Meanwhile, since the United States is fighting World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the President is encouraging people to grow food in their own Victory Gardens
Victory garden
Victory gardens, also called war gardens or food gardens for defense, were vegetable, fruit and herb gardens planted at private residences and public parks in United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Germany during World War I and World War II to reduce the pressure on the public food supply...
. The farm bugs and insects throw a party where they patriotically decide to stop eating farm vegetables. The party is dampened when the rooster Charles starts one of his long-winded speeches. After he is forced to stop, the horsefly Zero crashes the party, telling everyone the war is somebody else's problem. Freddy drives Zero away, but now he has another enemy threatening revenge.
Mrs. Wiggins the Cow and Freddy are discussing Zebedee when they hear Jinx the Cat yowling. Instead of a problem, they discover the other animals playing Camphor and Bannister's game, but testing proverbs. Jinx, having tipped his milk dish over, howls until Mrs. Bean refills it, proving that it is useful to cry over spilt milk. Jinx tells the dog that "Any stick is good enough to beat a dog with". The dog replies that there are more ways than one way to skin a cat. Freddy joins the game, but attention soon turns to his problems.
The animals decide that Freddy, Jinx and the mice will sneak into Camphor’s house to implicate the Winches as thieves. However they are trapped inside when a door locks shut behind them. Freddy disguises himself in human clothes, and manages to fool Bannister long enough for Jinx and the mice to arrange his escape. The Winches recognize Freddy, but by this point nobody believes them, and the sheriff is called. Zebedee Winch tries to escape, but the sheriff catches him when Freddy's friend eagle forces his car off the road. The sheriff drives to Zebedee's house, and discovering Camphor's stolen property, arrests him.
To get Simon and his relatives out of their holes in Camphor's attic, Freddy employs fleas, but there still is a fight before he forces them to leave. Camphor forgives the Winches and allows them to work on his estate. Freddy goes to a patriotic bug meeting, where the horsefly Zero is allowed to debate Charles the Rooster. Losing the debate, he physically threatens Freddy, who has prepared by bringing friend toads; when the fly comes to sting, he is eaten.
Having been forgiven by Camphor, and helped restore his damaged portraits, Freddy tells Camphor the whole truth about what has happened. When Camphor thinks Freddy should write a book about it, Bannister produces the proverb, "There's no friend like a good book".
Characters
Freddy usually lives on the Bean farm with animal friends, however much of this story takes place on Camphor's estate. Mrs. Wiggins the cow, Theodore the frog, as well as others play a role in the book. Camphor and Bannister are introduced (appearing again as major characters in Freddy Goes CampingFreddy Goes Camping
Freddy Goes Camping is the 15th book in the humorous children's series Freddy the Pig written by American author Walter R. Brooks, and illustrated by Kurt Wiese. When a hotel owner is forced to sell under mysterious circumstances, Freddy and his friend Mr...
). Zebedee Winch is a hardened criminal, openly discussing burglary and bank robbing. Simon is a vicious, deceitful rat who heads a family gang, often plotting revenge on Freddy.
Illustrations
There are 34 black and white, pen and ink drawings by Kurt WieseKurt Wiese
Kurt Wiese was an award-winning German-born book illustrator. Wiese wrote and illustrated 20 children's books and illustrated another 300 for other authors.- Biography :Wiese was born in Minden, Germany...
, endpapers, and a full color cover depicting scenes from the book. Each chapter starts with a half page illustration, while a full page illustration is placed close to an event within each chapter. Unusually for the series, starting with Chapter Four the half page illustration is a scene from the previous chapter, rather than the upcoming one.