The tent, the bucket and me by Emma Kennedy

For anyone that’s ever had to under go the dreaded “family holiday” then this book is for you. Emma Kennedy and her parents have suffered quite possibly the worst luck on a family holiday again and again and again. There is a gruesome satisfaction in reading about each year’s attempts at a family holiday and waiting for that moment when it goes horribly wrong! From their first holiday in the 1970s (where the tent and the bucket first meet our intrepid author Emma) onwards, Emma and her parents seem dogged by bad weather, near death experiences, car troubles and more excrement than you can shake a bucket at! Not for the faint hearted, this book is for those who have had to huddle in their tent in a thunderstorm, who have had to pee in a bucket and who have ever been camping in France.

I admire Emma for being so brutally honest in her descriptions of her family holidays. Aside from the trauma of recounting her families inability to enjoy a family holiday without some form of disaster, Emma seems to come off worst in the majority of the stories. In particular her first visit to France which leaves a strong smell in the air! thunderstorm, who have had to pee in a bucket and who have ever been camping in France.

This book holds the distinction of being the funniest book in the world. Or at least the funniest book I’ve ever read (and I’ve read a few). I’ve read books which have made me smile, or laugh inside my head. There’s books where I’ve sniggered outloud, and books where I’ve laughed outloud, even when on the bus (Thanks Danny Wallace!) but this book had me laughing so hard that I couldn’t speak or breathe. I was laughing so hard that the book fell out of my hands, and tears rolled down my face. My mum walked in and thought I was crying. And due to my inability to talk, and the fact the book had fallen by the side of my chair, it was a full five minutes before we established that I was laughing at a book. And the best thing of all, was that this was after the first few chapters. thunderstorm, who have had to pee in a bucket and who have ever been camping in France.

Needless to say, after this experience, I wasn’t popular for a while. Especially since the book continued to get funnier. I actually thought I would need hospital treatment after finishing the book. In fact even now….. yup… I’m laughing again.