I just read Forts for the first time today. It won’t be the last.
Forts is a 2025 picture book written by Katie Venit and illustrated by Kenard Pak. And it is lovely. (I keep thinking the title should be Forts!)
It starts simply but poetically: “The world is filled with forts. Tiny worlds within this world, safe as coat pockets.” And I’m hooked. We have a premise, a promise, and poetry. The book goes on to sketch in episodic and implied stories that kids magic into being in the many different kinds of forts out there: the forest fort, the yard fort, the tent fort, the cushion or cardboard forts, and others.
Each evokes its own story, and Pak’s illustrations are rich with color and energy. Together Venit and Pak reveal the magic of every day.
There’s only a limited or implied overall story, but there is change and progress. At the start of the book, the child exploring these forts does so alone. At the end of the book, there’s a friend.
Good stuff.
