It's a rite of passage for school children across Australia - the annual trip to Canberra.
And now there is a kids' picture book that pays homage to that experience, with humour and fun.
Camp Canberra is the second collaboration between cartoonist Cathy Wilcox and local writer Krys Saclier.
Their first book Vote 4 Me did the impressive task of explaining Australia's preferential voting system to children. Both books are published by Wild Dog Books.
Camp Canberra is written from the kids' point of view, as the students from Mount Mayhem Primary travel to the national capital. They visit all the institution, learning about Australia's history and government - and roundabouts.
Krys said the story was ripe for the telling, with a big audience of potential readers.
"I actually work in educational tourism and there's over 160,000 kids who visit Canberra every year, based on pre-COVID figures," she says.
"I also really feel for the kids who can't come here and see all the fantastic things, so the book is for them too.
"And also Canberra kids who go to local schools which actually find it really difficult to get into these attractions because they get booked out by interstate schools."
Krys had fun writing the book, adding humour and doses of reality where she could.
"They're on a camp, they're away from home, all sorts of things happen. They don't like the food or they end up with bloodied noses or whatever, so it's actually from the kids' perspective, as if it's been written by the kids themselves," she said.
"So you're not only learning about how government works but also that experience of being away from home and learning something new."
The book is "not necessarily a tourism brochure". The kids don't like everything. But there are some tried and true favourites.
"Kids when they come are super-excited to go to Questacon, that's kind of the most exciting place," she said.
"Others like the National Electoral Education Centre [at Old Parliament House], they get to go through and do a vote and they really love that."
Wilcox, the political cartoonist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, who was named cartoonist of the year in 2020 by the Museum of Australian Democracy, brings the students of Camp Canberra to life with an engaging photographic collage.
"With picture book publishing, you don't actually get to do much with the illustrator because it's all done through the publisher," Krys said.
"The publisher said, 'We're going to have photos and collages and Cathy is going to draw pictures over it'. I thought, 'I don't know how that is going to look'. But once they actually did it, it looks amazing. I just love it. It looks really gorgeous."
Camp Canberra is being launched at 2pm on Sunday in the shop of the National Capital Exhibition at Regatta Point by Lake Burley Griffin.
Garry Watson, a program leader with the National Capital Education Tourism Project, will be launching the book.
People can register to attend the launch at www.kryssaclierstories.com/
