Our Fort

This celebration of a day spent outdoors may inspire young readers to embark on their own explorations, and it serves to remind adults why unstructured time is so valuable.

-Adrienne L. Pettinelli May/June 2022 p.118

Dorléans (The Night Walk) celebrates the magic of visiting a secret fort--an event that has less to do with the physical fort itself and more with the adventure of having one. In a translation by Waters (My Valley) that captures friendly dialogue, the story follows three pink-skinned children with straight black hair as they journey fort-ward in spring. "Hey guys! Want to go to the fort?" "Yes! To the fort!" The long path pictured out the front door of a country house invites the children--and readers--deep into green hills: broad, sweeping oceans of grass and sky are washed with blues and greens; delicate tree leaves are worked in tiny, intricate black lines. Familiar rural childhood experiences--a threatening dog, a flock of sheep, snacks in a field--punctuate the group's long walk. Suddenly, the sky above darkens, birds flee, and a windstorm strikes, strong enough to knock the children over. When the skies clear and the fort is found undisturbed, their return quickly leads to planning another in this tempestuous meditation on childhood freedom. Ages 4-8. (Apr.)

Gr 2-4--"The adventure will begin the minute we step through the gate." Readers join three friends on a journey through nature to their secret fort. They trudge past the neighbor's barking dog and the sheep in the meadow, on a journey they have made before and clearly relish. That is, until the storm hits. Will the friends be able to stick together in the tumultuous weather that threatens to blow them away? Against a story of friendship, trust, and perseverance, the art uses soft colors and line work that recalls, in some scenes, the landscapes of Japanese art. A compelling use of light and dark builds suspense to the terrific climax of the storm. The fair-skinned characters with straight black hair have clothing that is old-fashioned and without reference to any specific culture. The setting is anywhere and everywhere. The storm could be their imaginations, or real. Their fort, and their "play," with dandelion flowers for tea, seems like that of far younger children, but the vocabulary, and emotional heft, skews older. VERDICT A compelling, but still optional purchase for where picture books, especially related to friendship and adventure, are regularly circulated.--Katherine Forsman