Fort on Fourth Street, The: A Story about the Six Simple Machines

by Lois Spangler, Christina Wald (Illustrator)

Overview

When a young child decides to build a fort in the backyard, Grandpa comes forward to help. But they can't do it alone—they get help from the six simple machines: lever, pulley, inclined plane, wheel and axle, screw, and wedge. Told in cumulative rhyme, similar to The House That Jack Built, readers follow the building process to completion and discover the surprise reason it was built.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781607186328
Publisher:	Arbordale Publishing
Publication date:	09/10/2013
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	69,349
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 9.70(h) x 0.30(d)
Lexile:	AD920L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

Editorial Reviews

A grandfather and his grandchild build a fort in their backyard with the help of six machines—lever, pulley, inclined plane, wheel and axle, screw, and wedge. The grandchild explains the process in rhyming verse followed by cumulative verse on the opposite page throughout the book as in The House That Jack Built. Large colorful illustrations show their backyard, pets, and the variety of tools they use to construct the fort. The wheels and axles move the wagon as it carries wood. The saw is a wedge, and screws push through the wood. A pulley brings up treats and a lever moves a rock. A ramp leading up to the fort is an inclined plane. The final illustrations show the completed fort and the decorated interior that is especially made for the grandchild. There are four pages at the end of the book that provide additional information and activities such as tools to use in measuring and questions to consider when building a fort. Independent readers could read this book, and it would also lend itself to adults reading aloud the cumulative rhyme with children. The large illustrations show a close view of how the tools are used, making it very understandable for young children. This entertaining and educational book is a great science resource for schools and libraries. Reviewer: Vicki Foote; Ages 7 to 10.

Children's Literature - Vicki Foote

2013-09-01
An introduction to simple machines that goes wrong at "Fort" and just gets worse. Wedging the informational content into uncommonly awful verse ("These are the wheels and axles / that move my wagon without hassles"), a young narrator describes each step in the construction of said "fort" (actually, in the bland illustrations, an elaborately designed playhouse). In doing so, the book demonstrates each of six simple machines, mostly tools, in action, though not always in the right order or with much sense to their use. Grandpa, who furnishes most of the labor, really should be levering up rocks to clear the site before, not after, the project's sawn boards have been assembled, for instance. Moreover, the tools on display include a never-seen-in-use hammer and spirit level, plus a pulley that would be useful for a treehouse but is nonsensical here: "This is the pulley that brings up the treats, / so yummy and sweet that we love to eat." Looking much larger inside than out in final views, the finished building is furnished as a science lab and in a shocking (shocking) denouement, the owner turns out to be a girl. A visual quiz, explanatory notes and other pedagogical backmatter fill the closing pages. Readers will be "plane" inclined to ditch this screw-up. (Informational picture book. 7-9)

Kirkus Reviews