Special Places for Belonging in Gorgeous Picture Book for Young Readers

Many children have constructed a fort for playtime. Blankets over chairs or tables, a tree house, or another kind of fort are all special ways for children to have this private space to call their own. Katie Venit's gorgeous picture book Forts will resonate with children who have built a fort at one time or another.

Some forts can be located under a tree. A hideout under a waterfall can be a wonderful fort. Some forts can be in your own back yard. Some children have playhouses in their yard that can be a fort. How about making a fort with a tent? Special formations from sticks might form a fort. One can actually make a fort under your bed or behind the curtains in your home. There may be a special place under stairs in your home that can be used for a fort. How about hiding under the kitchen table to use this space as a fort? Large boxes can also be collected to construct a fort. Collect the cushions around the house to construct a fort. Each colorful illustration portrays a special way to build a fort along with the text that describes the fort. Forts can also be shared with a special friend.

Kenard Pak contributed his talents as an illustrator for Forts. Each illustration presents a different idea for children to build a special hiding place to dream and belong.

Forts is recommended for ages 3-7. It was published by Viking, a division of Penguin/Random House. It has an ISBN of 978-0-593-46615-5.

Teachers who teach in early education classrooms will want to add this beautiful picture book to their classroom library. Young children enjoy making forts to play inside and forts can be constructed in all kinds of ways for the classroom. Building a fort inside your classroom presents the opportunity to provide private spaces for children to read alone or play with toys inside the fort with a friend.

*Read Forts in a story time session. Call attention to the little girl who wants to have a fort in all kinds of places.

*Engage children in a discussion of what kind of fort they would like. What would they use the fort for?

*Call attention to the illustration and text that describes a fort that can be under a tree. Trees on the playground can be used a fort. Sit under a tree on your playground for a story time session.

*Take a class poll of the number of children in your classroom who may have a playhouse in their backyard. Playhouses can be used as a fort.

*Invite parents who may have a tent to share for your classroom to use as a fort.

*Engage children in a discussion of using the space under their beds as a fort. Some children like to hide behind the curtains in their home and these spaces can also be a fort. Call attention to the little girl under her kitchen table that she uses for a fort.

*Collect large boxes such as refrigerator boxes or other large boxes to construct a fort for your classroom.

*Invite parents to send cushions for your classroom for children to construct a fort. They can also donate blankets for children to construct a fort with the blanket and chairs in the classroom.

*Engage children in a discussion of what they would do inside their fort. Provide a space inside your classroom to be used a a fort and place books inside for reading.

*Provide snacks for children to share when they use their fort.

Kate Venit's Forts is her debut picture book. She has been writing since she was in the fifth grade. She always enjoyed making us stories with her friends and writing together in notebooks. She now works as an instructional designer when she is not writing. She helps teachers design a new format for their classes to become online courses for students or other teachers.

Kenard Pak is an award-winning author, illustrator, and designer for animation. His book Hello Winter was the winner of the SCBWT's Golden Kite Award for Illustration. He also works with the Disney studio and Dreamworks. He enjoys working with developing creative visuals.