Secret Tree Fort by Brianne Farley

I judged this book by its cover and decided it was a must read. I was right. Two sisters are sent outside to play - one ecstatic and one trying very hard to keep her nose in a book and ignore her younger sibling.  The younger one invents a secret tree fort so magnificent she can hardly believe it herself. It has a secret entrance, a marshmallow and chocolate storage compartment, a crow's nest that's high enough for spotting whales and pirates and the entire thing, the entire thing is made of sweets.  She boasts to her sister that she can even play board games with whales and there's a whole two page spread about all the amazing cool things she can see with a magnifying glass. Her sister insists it doesn't exist and their battle of 'Yes it does' 'No it doesn't' reaches epic proportions until finally they both relent and decide to build a real fort together.

E loved the detail of the fort but also latched on to how the younger sister's mood changed throughout the story from ecstatic to disappointed to contented. I love Brianne Farley's sketch style illustrations of the girls and the saturated colours of the fort, sweets and assorted whales. This is not just a book about sisters and it's not just a book about girls.  It's about how far your imagination can take you which is actually what a book should do.