Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
The Little Red Fort
Illustrator: Sonia Sanchez
Picture Book
For ages 5 to 7
Scholastic Press, 2018 ISBN: 978-0545859196
Ruby is the kind of little girl whose mind is teeming with all kinds of ideas. One day she sees some old boards and she decides that she is going to build something using the boards. She asks her three brothers, Rodrigo, Lee, and Jose if they would like to help her build something. Lee pretends not to hear her, Rodrigo gives her a “look that could melt popsicles,” and Jose almost falls of the fence. How can Ruby build something they say. She doesn’t know how to. In response Ruby announces that she will learn how to build something and that is exactly what she does.
Ruby invites her brothers to help her draw the plans, gather the supplies, cut the boards, and hammer the nails. Every time she asks them to join her they refuse to help. They can’t be bothered or they are too busy.
Eventually Ruby’s creation is ready and what a creation it is. She has built a fabulous fort, complete with a door and a window. When Ruby invites her brothers to play in her fort they suddenly are eager to join her, but Ruby has other ideas.
This delightful picture book celebrates all those wonderful people who have the urge to create something and who act on that need. Even when the people around them tell them that they don’t have the skill or the know-how to build something, they do it anyway.