This book was such a fun surprise! The artwork is absolutely adorable, the illustrations are vibrant, full of movement, and had me pausing just to soak in all the colorful details. The story itself was just as heartwarming, filled with imagination, resilience, and creativity. I loved how it celebrated STEM, problem-solving, and dreaming BIG all wrapped up in the cozy magic of building forts. Piper is a wonderfully determined character, and I think kids (and their parents!) will adore this adventure. 💫

Thank you NetGalley and Cortney Cino for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I requested this book to read and review with my toddlers, who are working on a 1,000 unique book before kindergarten challenge. As a teacher, I see the importance of getting kids off screens and away from overage of technology. Kids need imaginative play, and this book was so fun to read to my kids because they love building pillow forts. It allows them to (kind of) make a plan, be creative, solve problems, and have fun! They also started building one after reading this book, which is always a favorite for me.

Bright, beautiful illustrations make this a fun book. I can't imagine how pretty it would be in real life!

Thank you for allowing me to read your work and for inspiring kids to be...kids once again. :)

Valkyrie

My daughters and I loved this book! Piper’s Fort Frenzy is such a fun, imaginative story — my girls were immediately inspired to start building forts of their own before we even finished reading. Piper is creative, determined, and shows how to keep trying when things don’t go as planned, which is such a great message for kids. I also appreciated the subtle humor sprinkled in for parents — it made reading it out loud even more enjoyable.

This is the kind of book that sparks creativity and conversation, and we’ll definitely be looking for the other Piper books!

Thank you to NetGalley and Whimspire Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First, the illustrations and color choices for this book are phenomenal. My 7-year-old and I both loved the full page illustrations and how the pictures flowed together. Overall, it was a very cute story about a young girl, Piper, on her quest to build more forts.

While I don’t typically think too deeply about children’s stories, the writing of this one seemed to have a few spots that could flow a bit better. A party is mentioned at the beginning on the first page, but without much context. It’s mentioned again later but never shown. It’s a bit odd as the impetus for change in the plot. I don’t think young children will notice, especially if read to those 6 and younger.

Overall it was an enjoyable book with a fun ending. My son commented that he wished it were a little longer too!

This is cute - I'm sure kids would enjoy it. But it doesn't really teach a lesson like the best kids books do - if anything, it teaches to bug your parents until they make you a better version of what you want. So, not something I'd really show my kids. But the art was cute!

Review: Piper’s Fort Frenzy by Cortney Cino
Publisher: Whimspire Books
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Piper’s Fort Frenzy is a vibrant and heartwarming picture book that celebrates creativity, determination, and the beautifully messy magic of childhood imagination. Author Cortney Cino captures the highs and lows of group play with humor and heart, making this a standout story for both kids and adults.

As a parent, I especially appreciated the underlying message about teamwork and flexibility — important themes wrapped in a fun and engaging adventure. Piper’s spirited personality and problem-solving approach will resonate with young readers, while the colorful, energetic illustrations add to the overall charm.

Published by Whimspire Books, this title is available in hardcover, which I truly value as a parent. A durable format means this will stand up to repeated readings (and enthusiastic little hands), making it a worthwhile addition to any home library.

Ideal for ages 4–8, Piper’s Fort Frenzy is a fantastic read-aloud choice for families, classrooms, and libraries. Highly recommended!

Check out my reviews on my Goodreads account and bookstagram account!

I read this with my 3 year old and she loved this book!
The characters are so beautifully drawn and she loved reading all about the different forts Piper builds.
It’s a great way to inspire little ones to build wonderful things from what they have in front of them.
Gary the guinea pig is a wonderful companion in Piper’s for building antics as well!
I’ll definitely be recommending this book to other parents with children of a similar age!

I opted to read this book together with my young nieces, ages 3 and 5, as I am outside the recommended age range. The older of my nieces was very excited to read this one, out of all the titles we tried out, because she loves to build forts of all kinds herself, so she loved Piper and was so excited by the end of the story. For me, I found this book cute and fun, and felt that it had a great theme and moral to the story. The art is also a nice modern style without feeling too zany/cartoonish. We will definitely check out the other book in this collection.

Thank you for the ARC. I loved the colors and pictures in this book. Piper thinks her bedroom is boring so she makes a fort. With the power of imagination, the fort evolves and changes. Munson enjoyed this story.

This is a cute story that teaches compromise! The illustration was cute, and I just read this to my 8 year old and he seemed to enjoy it!

This book was sweet! I liked how Piper kept getting more ideas for the fort, and how her fort kept changing over time. I also really liked the illustration style and the placement of the text.

A cute book. I felt like mom and dad's expressions in illustrations could've been better. Overall it was ok but i think it will be fun for kids.

Piper's Fort Frenzy is totally awesome! It's super cute and will make you want to build your very own fort right away!

As a teacher and a parent, I think this book is perfect for sparking some STEM fun (that's Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math!). Imagine designing your dream fort and then building it with all sorts of cool stuff!

It was also a blast to see some familiar animal friends from Piper's first adventure, Piper's Pet Pursuit. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful! They're so bright and colorful, they just pop off the page!

If you have a kiddo who loves to create and design, this book is a must have. It's a fantastic addition to any home or school library! Get ready for some fort building fun!

Refreshing and charming children's book. I read it to my 4-year-old nephew, and he enjoyed the colorful illustrations, even identifying some of the words on the pages. The illustrations are exciting and have a lot of movement, which drew his attention. He loved how she created different types of forts, just like he does with his older brother.

The one thing I will say is he had to be explained what a treehouse was since they do not have a lot of larger trees in their backyard (Just Palm Trees in their neighborhood and front yard). But other than that, he enjoyed it and wants to reread it.

BLUF: Cute story about creativity and innovation.

Overall: 4⭐
Plot/Lesson: 5📍
Illustrations: 4⭐

Mom's Review:
A couple clunky spots where the language/vocabulary seemed strange, but overall a cute story about innovation.

Wish the faces on the characters were a little more expressive - the mouths being just a line felt unfinished to me.

"A's" Review
(Pending)

"C's" Review
(Pending)

Dad's Review
(Pending)

(Full Traveling Book Family reviews to come!)

A big thank you to Cortney Cino & NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book

All reviews are our own.

My four year old really enjoyed this story. It was simple and easy to understand, and she loved the illustrations. I do wish they went a little more into the storyline of dad and piper building the fort, as this could be a more clear example of working hard for your dreams.

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the free Kindle book. My opinions are my own and are freely given.

Piper thinks her bedroom is boring (which, I feel that), but making forts makes it better.
Love how the book teaches kids how to use their imagination. Another thing I absolutely loved was the strong father/daughter relationship in the book.

Loved, loved, loved the illustrations. As well all know, that can make all the difference in a kids book. Sometimes, it doesn't matter how amazing the book is. If the publisher picked the wrong illustrator, no one will ever buy it. Luis Peres should be in extremely high demand as an illustrator.

Definitely would recommend this book!

What. refreshing topic for a children's book! This one is so adorable, and inspiring for the little STEM or budding architect kid in your life. Cute artwork and sweet prose.

Piper is too cute in this book. Gary and some of the other animals from ‘Pet Pursuit’ help Piper try, unsuccessfully, to build her a fort. It takes helping her dad get ready for a party, and his idea to help her build the ‘Most Terrific Tree Fort’. A sweet story with beautiful illustrations.

I really loved the illustrations in this book. They’re so cute and colorful! The story is nice too, and I know it will inspire lots of kids to build forts. The only thing I don’t love is that I think many kids will want their parents to build them a tree fort after reading the book, which isn’t realistic for a lot of families, and might leave kids feeling disappointed. I would have preferred the story to stick to blanket forts and things most kids will be able to do themselves, or with just a bit of parental assistance.