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Pouncey, Maggie

A Fort on the Moon

32 pp. | Holiday/Porter | November, 2020 | Trade ISBN 978-0-8234-4657-5 $18.99
(2) K-3 Illustrated by Larry Day. Young narrator Dodge and his older brother Fox have a single goal--to build a fort on the moon. The brothers' strong resolve playfully clashes with their father's unsolicited input ("Our dad is an engineer, so he thinks he knows a lot about building") and their mother's grown-up skepticism. Once night falls, and their parents are asleep, the snowsuit-and-­helmet-clad brothers head to the roof, where they find their homemade (and highly creative) ship and blast off. A bit of a bumpy landing leads to some exploration on the moon, "mysterious and dark, like a mountain turned inside out, a volcano floating in midair." The mission takes a turn for the worse (and Dodge throws a tantrum, expertly redirected by a reassuring Fox), but soon they manage to create an impressive, if ramshackle, fort. They head back to Earth and a breakfast of "pancakes shaped like astronauts, stars, and the moon." Day's illustrations ("pencil, pen, and ink with watercolor and gouache"), starring a family with subtly varied skin tones, skillfully alternate spot art, panels, single pages, and double-page spreads. An appealingly textured warm blue serves as stand-in for the inky darkness of night and outer space--fitting the narrative's upbeat spirit.
Reviewer: Patrick Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2021

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