(soft music)
-: Hi every one, it's a beautiful day today.
Today I'm going to be reading you a story called,
"The Little Red Fort."
Are you ready to join me?
Here we go, "The Little Red Fort" by Brenda Maier
and pictures by Sonia Sanchez.
"The Little Red Fort."
Ruby's mind was always full of ideas,
what about you, do you always have ideas too?
I bet so.
One day she found some old boards,
"who wants to help me build something?"
She asked her brothers.
I wonder what she's gonna do?
Oscar Lee pretended not to hear her,
Rodrigo gave her a look that could melt popsicles,
Jose almost fell off the fence.
"You don't know how to build anything." They said.
But Ruby shrugged.
"Then I'll learn." She said.
And she did.
Well, she's being so creative.
She's gonna ask a question,
"who wants to help me draw the plans?"
The boys clutched their sides and howled with laughter,
"hahaha! Not me." Said Oscar Lee.
"I don't think so." Said Rodrigo.
"No way." Said Jose, "I'm too busy."
"Fine." Said Ruby, "then I'll draw them myself."
They are not helping her at all are they?
And she did.
Check her out.
She has a big workspace, looks like she is making it red.
She is drawing her sketch red.
Satisfied with her plans Ruby asked,
"Who wants to help me gather the supplies?"
"Not me." Said Oscar Lee.
"I don't think so." Said Rodrigo.
"No way." Said Jose, "I'm too busy."
"Fine." Said Ruby, " then I'll gather them myself."
You can say it with me, and she did.
Looks like she has a little bit of help from maybe her mom.
When all the supplies were gathered, Ruby asks,
"Who wants to help me cut the boards?"
"Not me." Said Oscar Lee.
"I don't think so." Said Rodrigo.
"No way." Said Jose, "I'm too busy."
Remember what she says?
She says, "fine, I'll cut them myself."
Men she's seen all the hard work, isn't she?
And so she did.
When all the boards were neatly cut, Ruby sang,
"Who wants to help me hammer in the nails?"
Do you think they're gonna help this time?
"Not me." Said Oscar Lee.
"I don't think so." Said Rodrigo.
"No way." Said Jose, "I'm too busy."
"Fine." She said, "I'll hammer them myself."
She's still doing all the work still.
Oh, but she has some helpers, they're helping her.
Soon, Ruby's creation was complete.
"Who wants to come play in my fort?" She called.
"Me, me." Said Oscar Lee.
"Let's go." Said Rodrigo.
"I'll play." Said Jose, "I'm not busy anymore."
She did all the work,
and now they want to join her in her fort.
"Not so fast." Ruby said,
"you didn't help me draw the plans or gather the supplies
"or cut the boards or hammer the nails,
"you said I didn't know how to build
"and you laughed at me,
"I'm gonna play in the fort by myself."
She's very proud of herself isn't she?
And so she did.
Look at all that stuff in there.
"We didn't wanna play anyway."
The boys said, but they did.
So, they huddled, whispered and got straight to work.
Oscar lee made a mailbox, Rodrigo planted flowers,
Jose painted the fort fire-engine red.
Ruby was delighted, she was so happy.
That evening, the boys followed a delicious aroma or smell
to a fort-warming party.
"Who wants to help me clean this plate?" Ruby asked.
"We do." The boys said.
Oh, they're trying to help her now
'cause they wanna play inside.
And they did.
This is my favorite page of the whole book
because guess what?
It shows you how to build all different kinds of forts.
Look at this, there's a sofa fort,
there's a snow fort, cool.
There's a kitchen-chair fort
and there's also a bunk-bed fort.
So after reading this story,
it really inspired me to make my own fort.
So, just like Ruby,
I grabbed a piece of paper and some makers
to draw my plan first.
Then I also gathered some blankets here,
I have my husker blanket and I also have a blue blanket,
I have some more too.
So I think I'm gonna use my couch cushions
like these ones here and the ones that I'm sitting on
to help me build my fort.
So here's my sketch, I made one just like Ruby did.
So I made it the same shape as my fort,
and I also used blankets on top,
so that's what those different colors are for.
And now, are you ready to see my fort?
Here it is, I used all different kinds of blankets here,
I used my couch cushions.
Let's see what happens when we look inside.
Wow, it's so dark in there,
I made this couch cushion to be kind of like a door,
so that I can get in it.
It's really dark in there still,
I'm gonna have to maybe bring a light in.
I encourage you to build a fort, just like Ruby.
You can use all kinds of materials,
you can build inside or outside, do whatever makes you happy
and remember, to always help if someone asks.
Have a beautiful day.
(light music)