FOREST SCHOOL: THE BIG FORT
By: Ruth Symons
Illustrated by: Sebastien Braun
Published: February 18, 2025
Publisher: Templar Books
Fiction
As school is ending, it’s time to start thinking about summer. I hope that some of your summer planning involves getting your kids outside in nature.
Mouse, Squirrel, Fox, and Rabbit gather in the woods for Forest School with their teacher Owl. It’s important when you are in nature to use all your senses and take in your surroundings. As the friends sit together, they notice trees, bugs, birds, and more. Their first task is to build a fort. Owl instructs them about how to find the right kind of branches to build their big fort.
As the animals work together to build their fort, Mouse becomes upset because he is too small to gather the big branches and doesn’t feel useful. But, being small has its advantages too. All the forest friends (and your child, too) learn how to build a fort, tie knots, make a bug hotel, and build a fire with an adult.
This combination of a story with instructions for your child to create things in nature makes this a fun learning experience for this summer. The illustrations are cute yet include accurate legends of leaves and directions to activities with easy-to-follow instructions.
Create your own Forest School this summer by taking your child to your backyard, local nature center, or state park.
Ruth Symons is the author of several children’s books, including Christmas Lights and the Paper World series. When she’s not writing and editing, she loves gardening, hiking, and hosting elaborate teddy bear tea parties with her young daughter. Ruth Symons lives in London.
Sebastien Braun is the author and illustrator of many books, including Raj and the Best Day Ever! and Raj and the Best Vacation Ever!, as well as the illustrator of the Can You Say It Too? series and the Baby on Board series. As a child, he spent countless hours drawing and filled his homework with doodles and portraits of his teachers. After graduating, he spent a few years teaching art before taking the plunge as a freelance illustrator. Apart from creating pictures, his favorite pastimes are making toys from wood, playing with his children, and riding his vintage road bike through England’s Cotswold Hills.
To purchase a copy of FOREST SCHOOL: THE BIG FORT, click HERE.
Get this nature kit to encourage your child to explore
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Thanks to the publisher for sending a copy of this book for this review. This review is my honest opinion. If you choose to purchase through the above links, I may receive a small commission without you having to pay a cent more for your purchase.
Posted Under Book Review, Children's books, Ruth Symons, Sebastien Braun, fiction, nature