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Fort-Building Time
Grab your blankets and pillows! From the creators of Finding Wild, a new picture book that follows the changing of the seasons and is as cozy as a fort.
Winter, spring, summer, fall. Each season brings new materials to make the perfect fort. From leaves to snow, from mud to sand, there is a different fort throughout the year. As a group of friends explore and build through the seasons, they find that every fort they make is a perfect fort.
From the team behind Finding Wild , which Publishers Weekly called -a sparkling debut- and a -whimsical meditation on the idea of wildness, - Megan Wagner Lloyd and Abigail Halpin are together again for a portrayal of a classic childhood endeavor that is perfect all year long.
Winter, spring, summer, fall. Each season brings new materials to make the perfect fort. From leaves to snow, from mud to sand, there is a different fort throughout the year. As a group of friends explore and build through the seasons, they find that every fort they make is a perfect fort.
From the team behind Finding Wild , which Publishers Weekly called -a sparkling debut- and a -whimsical meditation on the idea of wildness, - Megan Wagner Lloyd and Abigail Halpin are together again for a portrayal of a classic childhood endeavor that is perfect all year long.
32 pages, Library Binding
First published October 10, 2017
1 person is currently reading
152 people want to read
About the author
Megan Wagner Lloyd
22 books225 followersMegan Wagner Lloyd is the writer of the kids' graphic novels ALLERGIC and SQUISHED, co-created with illustrator Michelle Mee Nutter, and the SUPER PANCAKE series, co-created with illustrator Abhi Alwar. She's also the author of HAVEN: A SMALL CAT'S BIG ADVENTURE, and several picture books. She lives with her family in the Washington DC area.
Sign up for her newsletter: meganwagnerlloyd.com
Find her on Instagram: @meganwagnerlloyd
Sign up for her newsletter: meganwagnerlloyd.com
Find her on Instagram: @meganwagnerlloyd
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews
April 7, 2018
Megan Wagner Lloyd's Fort-Building Time is indeed and for all intents and purposes a sweet enough poetic little paean to the four seasons, rhythmically, pleasurably capturing their many potential joys (and of course also repeatedly pointing out that forts can be built in the winter, in the spring, in the summer and in the autumn, and that ergo, every season is fort-building time). However, I personally do very much think that the author's, that Megan Wagner Lloyd's featured and presented text, while most definitely rollicking, fun and with a gentle lyricism, is also and sadly much too annoyingly thin and woefully sparse in detail, and especially with regard to how the various and seasonal forts (from igloos in the winter to elaborate tree houses in the fall) are actually meant to be constructed, as yes indeed, from the title of the book, from Fort-Building Time, I was in fact and actually expecting this and have felt quite disappointed that the step-by-step processes of the actual building of the various children's play forts do not ever even remotely seem to appear. Therefore, from a purely reading pleasure point of view, and because Fort-Building Time has not really proven to be what I was indeed expecting, only a two star ranking at best, for while the author's verses are certainly fun and also evocative to a point, there is just not enough to satisfy me or my inner child emotionally, realistically and textually (especially since Abigail Halpin's brightly fun and colourful accompanying illustrations do seem to promise a myriad of possible narrational details and information on the various "buildings" that sadly never really to and for me fully much materialise). And honestly, if you have young children who are interested in building and construction as a theme and were actually considering Fort-Building Time for them, there really (in my opinion) is not much if any construction and building specifically and textually being shown.
April 8, 2018
I expected this book to be more *active* in terms of showing children actively engaged in *building* forts. Instead, we see some really beautiful forts *after* they have been built and we see the children enjoying being in/around/on the forts. It's clear the children built the forts, but we don't see anything of the construction process until the final pages of the book for only one fort out of the five shown.
That said, I did really enjoy the book for what it is: a celebration of the seasons and of children's imaginations and how one can fuel the other. The lyricism of the text is a pleasure to read-aloud and the illustrations are at once bright and gentle, full of spirit and repose, showing that forts can be places for fun as well as contemplation. Some children may feel frustrated that they do not have access to the beautiful natural spaces depicted in these pages, but fortunately the final pages do show children engaged in building an indoor fort with the typical materials of pillows and blankets and such, and it also shows that sometimes forts topple and that the design needs some rethinking ;-) but that is just part of the fun on the way to a delightful finished product.
That said, I did really enjoy the book for what it is: a celebration of the seasons and of children's imaginations and how one can fuel the other. The lyricism of the text is a pleasure to read-aloud and the illustrations are at once bright and gentle, full of spirit and repose, showing that forts can be places for fun as well as contemplation. Some children may feel frustrated that they do not have access to the beautiful natural spaces depicted in these pages, but fortunately the final pages do show children engaged in building an indoor fort with the typical materials of pillows and blankets and such, and it also shows that sometimes forts topple and that the design needs some rethinking ;-) but that is just part of the fun on the way to a delightful finished product.
February 24, 2020
There's a special fort for every season as we travel through the year with some intrepid builders. Lloyd does a fine job of listing activities for each season, but it's the illustrations by Abigail Halpin that really made my heart sing.
They make me want to go outside and play.
They make me want to go outside and play.
March 23, 2019
Fort-Building Time is a simple book about a group of friends building forts throughout the year. When the book begins, it's just three of them building a snow fort in the winter. But as the seasons progress, new friends are added and by end of the book, there are seven friends playing the fort-building game.
The setup kind of reminded me of The Quiet Book with all of its descriptive words for each season. As such, there's no real story, per se. There's just a bunch of kids doing various activities throughout the year. And those activities (almost) always include building a fort.
My main quibble with this book is in the section for fall. For each season, there's a spread that shows the kids doing typical activities. In winter, they might be throwing snowballs or pulling sleds. In summer they're playing in the water and soaking up the sun. The second spread for each season includes more activities, but always ends with a mention of the building of a fort. And there's a picture of every fort for each season... except for fall. I'm still trying to figure that one out, and it's bugging me. Where's the fall fort? The spread where I expected to see it just has the kids marching along a fallen tree in the woods. (There is a fort depicted on the back cover that looks like it could be the fall fort. But why isn't it in the book?)
Aside from that, I like the idea and I like the pictures. This is a diverse group of friends, who even appear to be including someone's baby sibling in the fun. The dog is pretty cute, too (and plays a role in the narrative).
So many kids like to build forts, so there's probably a decent-sized audience for this book. It's a little poetic at times and doesn't have much story, but the pictures are fun to look at as they cycle through the seasons.
I just wish I knew what happened to fall's fort.
Quotable moment:
The setup kind of reminded me of The Quiet Book with all of its descriptive words for each season. As such, there's no real story, per se. There's just a bunch of kids doing various activities throughout the year. And those activities (almost) always include building a fort.
My main quibble with this book is in the section for fall. For each season, there's a spread that shows the kids doing typical activities. In winter, they might be throwing snowballs or pulling sleds. In summer they're playing in the water and soaking up the sun. The second spread for each season includes more activities, but always ends with a mention of the building of a fort. And there's a picture of every fort for each season... except for fall. I'm still trying to figure that one out, and it's bugging me. Where's the fall fort? The spread where I expected to see it just has the kids marching along a fallen tree in the woods. (There is a fort depicted on the back cover that looks like it could be the fall fort. But why isn't it in the book?)
Aside from that, I like the idea and I like the pictures. This is a diverse group of friends, who even appear to be including someone's baby sibling in the fun. The dog is pretty cute, too (and plays a role in the narrative).
So many kids like to build forts, so there's probably a decent-sized audience for this book. It's a little poetic at times and doesn't have much story, but the pictures are fun to look at as they cycle through the seasons.
I just wish I knew what happened to fall's fort.
Quotable moment:
September 7, 2017
FORT-BUILDING TIME is an absolutely delightful and lyrical story about the fun of creation and playing outdoors throughout the seasons. The illustrations are whimsical and filled with detail, and the text itself is artwork in itself. This title is a required purchase for elementary libraries and will be a perfect storytime read for primary grades.
Thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with a review copy of this title.
Thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with a review copy of this title.
December 7, 2019
Every time of the year is fort-building time in this lovely picture-book tribute to the joys of imaginative play and the beauty of the changing seasons. Whatever else each season brings, from snowball-throwing in winter to umbrella-holding in spring, from sandcastle-shaping in summer to leaf-chasing in fall, there is always room for fort-building, and the games of make-believe this engenders...
Author Megan Wagner Lloyd and illustrator Abigail Halpin, who previously collaborated on Finding Wild , once again team up for Fort-Building Time, which pairs a simple, poetic text with gorgeous, colorful artwork. Much as with the earlier title, I found the visuals here the real draw, and thought Halpin managed to capture the charm of each season. My favorite scene was the two-page spread featuring a tree-house in autumn, the vibrant colors of the changing leaves creating a flame-like impression on the paper. Recommended to Halpin fans, and to anyone looking for picture-books about the seasons, and the fun children can have in each one.
Author Megan Wagner Lloyd and illustrator Abigail Halpin, who previously collaborated on Finding Wild , once again team up for Fort-Building Time, which pairs a simple, poetic text with gorgeous, colorful artwork. Much as with the earlier title, I found the visuals here the real draw, and thought Halpin managed to capture the charm of each season. My favorite scene was the two-page spread featuring a tree-house in autumn, the vibrant colors of the changing leaves creating a flame-like impression on the paper. Recommended to Halpin fans, and to anyone looking for picture-books about the seasons, and the fun children can have in each one.
October 25, 2018
I loved it!
The children seem a little older than I am accustomed to in picture-books like this... and the only 'blanket' forts any of us ever built were only appropriate for preschoolers... but that makes this book all the more charming. Why shouldn't 'big kids' make more elaborate and fantastical forts with their friends? I love all the details in the pictures, and the poetical language, too.
Note that the little sister isn't old enough to play with the gang until Fall, but then is welcomed by all. And note that the front and back endpapers extend the story. This one's a keeper.
The children seem a little older than I am accustomed to in picture-books like this... and the only 'blanket' forts any of us ever built were only appropriate for preschoolers... but that makes this book all the more charming. Why shouldn't 'big kids' make more elaborate and fantastical forts with their friends? I love all the details in the pictures, and the poetical language, too.
Note that the little sister isn't old enough to play with the gang until Fall, but then is welcomed by all. And note that the front and back endpapers extend the story. This one's a keeper.
October 4, 2018
A bit too much text but darling illustrations.
November 1, 2017
Lively illustrations, created with watercolor and colored pencil and then finished digitally, complement text that pays tribute to the delights of building a fort with one's friends. As readers will see from the text, any season is just right for building a fort, no matter what materials are being used to do so. There's probably nothing more exciting for youngsters to build these temporary structures where they can have some privacy to do what they want to do. And if the fort happens to fall, so much the better as everyone can get together and rebuild it after crawling out from its ruins. Half the fun comes from the fort collapsing, after all. Is there anyone alive who hasn't build a fort out of blankets or bed sheets and towels? This picture book cheerfully pays tribute to the imagination of youngsters. Adults should be forewarned, though, that their own offspring will be begging them for some stuff for their forts. While I might never have thought of anyone writing a picture book about this topic, now that I've read it, I wonder why no one ever wrote a picture book on this very topic before. It makes me nostalgic as I long for my own childhood days spent playing and building forts just like many of these, sometimes using just an old brown blanket and a clothesline that transformed a room into a mysterious lair for my brother, my cousins, and me.
October 8, 2017
Many thanks to the @kidlitexchange network for the chance to review this title. All opinions are my own!
While I love to see children engaged in organized sports and activities, nothing warms this teacher's heart quite like creativity and imaginative play. Fort Building Time celebrates the idea that children can make their own joy! The characters design different forts all year long, based on the time of year. The charming illustrations and text reinforce seasonal concepts. This book will make a great read aloud for preK through 2nd grade.
While I love to see children engaged in organized sports and activities, nothing warms this teacher's heart quite like creativity and imaginative play. Fort Building Time celebrates the idea that children can make their own joy! The characters design different forts all year long, based on the time of year. The charming illustrations and text reinforce seasonal concepts. This book will make a great read aloud for preK through 2nd grade.
November 18, 2018
A lot of color, but mostly used for the effect of vomiting all over the page. Illustrator uses a hackneyed style that can be found in half the picture books published in the last five years. The physical portrayal of the figures is not realistic. The text is boring, running the same forced construction into the ground.
July 19, 2019
Detailed, bright and lively illustrations. Love the message of this book: no matter the season it's always fort building time (play time!)! Also, there's a mischievous pup. I always love a mischievous pup.
November 30, 2017
Great word choice mentor text.
December 2, 2018
I think it is a charming book. I thought the illustrations were very appealing, and captured all the fun of making different types of forts through the year.
March 29, 2019
This book is so cute! I love the illustrations, which show children exuberantly enjoying the outdoors in every season and--you guessed it--building all sorts of cool forts.
July 26, 2018
Great book for word choice!
February 22, 2018
This colorful book explains, season by season, why it's always fort-building time. The rhythmic descriptions of each season's virtues pair well with the illustrations of happy children enjoying various outdoor activities from snowball-throwing in winter to sandcastle-shaping in summer.
This would work well for any kind of STEM storytime with an engineering theme. Follow it up with a fort-building activity using a few old blankets or a storytime parachute and some cardboard boxes. It will be a hit.
This would work well for any kind of STEM storytime with an engineering theme. Follow it up with a fort-building activity using a few old blankets or a storytime parachute and some cardboard boxes. It will be a hit.
September 12, 2018
I always enjoyed making forts and so did (do) our girls. The activities depicted on the pages of this picture book show that fort-building isn't limited to any particular season or weather. It is a fun and creative activity that lets children use their imagination and problem-solving skills.
The narrative is short and fairly easily to understand, although the fonts and the hyphenated words may pose challenges to early readers. The illustrations, "created using watercolor and colored pencil, and finished digitally" are very vibrant and nicely detailed and are sure to appeal to younger children.
Overall, it's a fun, but not really notable book. I enjoyed reading it, but it is quite forgettable.
This book was selected as one of the books for the April 2018 - Building and Engineering discussion at the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books Group here at Goodreads.
The narrative is short and fairly easily to understand, although the fonts and the hyphenated words may pose challenges to early readers. The illustrations, "created using watercolor and colored pencil, and finished digitally" are very vibrant and nicely detailed and are sure to appeal to younger children.
Overall, it's a fun, but not really notable book. I enjoyed reading it, but it is quite forgettable.
This book was selected as one of the books for the April 2018 - Building and Engineering discussion at the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books Group here at Goodreads.
July 2, 2018
I love this colorful, vibrant story about friends, seasons, and fort building. Certain to inspire you to run outside and start building your own fort, no matter the season.
December 4, 2017
Absolutely loved the art inside of this book! My boys are huge fort builders so we enjoyed reading this one. When I thought of "fort building" before I read this book I immediately thought of inside forts however, this books changed my outlook on that. I do think a image from inside of the book would have made better cover art that was is on the cover. I loved the font of the words and the style of the art but I wasn't a huge fan of the format of the story though the repetitiveness is probably good for the younger readers (my boys, ages 9 and 10 found it too simple).
December 10, 2017
Might be able to use this for a STEM storytime. Afterwards, kids could design a fort with cardboard, or a small scale fort with planks or pretty much any building material.
December 18, 2017
This is delightfully illustrated book about a timeless childhood pastime. It doesn't have as much story or substance as I hoped for, but will still appeal to many children.
March 26, 2018
I loved this book! It introduces the seasons and how you can use your creativity and imagination during any of them. Well done!
October 29, 2017
Celebrate the seasons through play in this picture book that has different forts built by kids throughout the year. Winter starts the book with an ice and snow fort made merry with pine boughs for seating, berries and branches for decorations. Spring has a quiet fort filled with books to read, a cozy blanket hung between trees. Summer takes the fort to the beach with driftwood, towels, starfish and snacks. The fall fort is up in the changing trees with leaves falling all around. But sometimes forts go awry too! The only solution is a bigger, better fort next time. The text of this picture book is poetic and celebratory of each of the seasons with each season clearly depicted and then the fort shown in the illustrations. The images are filled with diverse children playing together. The fine-lined images are a mix of watercolor, colored pencil and digital that create a rich, warm setting. Have plenty of blankets, boxes and pillows around because little listeners will want to immediately build their own forts. Appropriate for ages 3-5.
April 10, 2018
Grab your blankets and pillows! From the creators of Finding Wild, a new picture book that follows the changing of the seasons and is as cozy as a fort. Winter, spring, summer, fall. Each season brings new materials to make the perfect fort. From leaves to snow, from mud to sand, there is a different fort throughout the year. As a group of friends explore and build through the seasons, they find that every fort they make is a perfect fort.
Notes
Megan Wagner Lloyd lives in Washington, D.C., with her family. She loves hiking in the woods and exploring on the beach. Finding Wild was her first book. Visit Megan at meganwagnerlloyd.com.
Abigail Halpin grew up in Maine and spent her summers camping with her family. Her previous picture books include Bella's Rules by Elissa Haden Guest and Finding Wild by Megan Wagner Lloyd. She has also illustrated many beautiful covers for novels. She lives in New Hampshire. Visit her at theodesign.com and follow her on Instagram at @abigailhalpin.
Notes
Megan Wagner Lloyd lives in Washington, D.C., with her family. She loves hiking in the woods and exploring on the beach. Finding Wild was her first book. Visit Megan at meganwagnerlloyd.com.
Abigail Halpin grew up in Maine and spent her summers camping with her family. Her previous picture books include Bella's Rules by Elissa Haden Guest and Finding Wild by Megan Wagner Lloyd. She has also illustrated many beautiful covers for novels. She lives in New Hampshire. Visit her at theodesign.com and follow her on Instagram at @abigailhalpin.
February 7, 2018
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Thank you to @kidlitexchange for the review copies of this picture book. All opinions are my own.
Fort Building Time is an adorable picture book for young children. No matter the season, and no matter the place, it can always be fort-building time! Whether you are making snowmen, hunting for daffodils, building sandcastles, or chasing the leaves through the woods, it is fort-building time!
I love how the bright and cheery pictures bring each season and fort-building time to life in the story. The story reminds me of the many times that my sisters, cousins and I build forts when we were children. Whether it was under the back porch, in the bunk beds, under the coffee table, or between the couches, it could always be fort-building time! While all children would enjoy this book, I think it’s more geared for children from preschool - grade 2.
Thank you to @kidlitexchange for the review copies of this picture book. All opinions are my own.
Fort Building Time is an adorable picture book for young children. No matter the season, and no matter the place, it can always be fort-building time! Whether you are making snowmen, hunting for daffodils, building sandcastles, or chasing the leaves through the woods, it is fort-building time!
I love how the bright and cheery pictures bring each season and fort-building time to life in the story. The story reminds me of the many times that my sisters, cousins and I build forts when we were children. Whether it was under the back porch, in the bunk beds, under the coffee table, or between the couches, it could always be fort-building time! While all children would enjoy this book, I think it’s more geared for children from preschool - grade 2.
February 1, 2018
I love everything about this book from opening its inviting cover to the moment that you’re near the end and the kids are already pulling the sheets off their bed and from the linen cupboard so they can build a fort. Journey through the seasons, a snowball-throwing, ice-sliding, fort-building winter, a daffodil-hunting, rainbow-finding, fort-building spring, a sun-sizzling, picnic-eating, fort-building summer, a leaf-chasing, poem-writing, fort-building autumn. Yes, fort building is an all year long event. Fort Building Time is relatable to every child (and adult) because really, who doesn’t enjoy the imagination and friendship and teamwork and fun and innovation that go along with it, not to mention having a spectacular hangout!
March 1, 2020
F (21 months) picked out this book by herself at the library. She toddled up to a bookshelf and grabbed it and insisted on bringing it home with us, even though my initial thought was that it wasn't quite developmentally appropriate for her. I figured it wouldn't hold her interest. However, I was wrong! She has made both her dad and I read this to her multiple times each. I think part of it is that the illustrations are very appealing. They are colorful and detailed and show changing seasons, which is always something that appealed to me even as a very young child as well. What can I say, F has good taste!
July 23, 2018
Journey through the four seasons with FORT-BUILDING TIME and explore what each time of year brings--from a child's perspective--through Lloyd's very lyrical, sing-song prose. What the story lacks in plot and character development, it makes up for in evoking a mood. This book would be a great pick as a prompt for classroom writing exercises, where students could come up with their own version of a season using Lloyd's writing style (for instance: summer for me is a time for iced coffee-chugging, outdoor-reading, and air-conditioner relishing).
November 9, 2017
Building forts is one of those activities that just about every kid has tried at least one time or another. So this charming picture book will definitely be one that kids can relate to. The poetic text and warm, inclusive illustrations take readers through each of the seasons by listing the fun things to do, and each season includes fort-building! This could be a terrific mentor text to help young writers describe the seasons in their own way.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews