The Perfect Plan by Leah Gilbert

Maya has a dream to build the most incredible, wonderful, outstanding, original, strongest, sturdiest, comfiest, coziest, beautiful, and unique fort in the world. She has the perfect plan to build it all by herself. Or does she? Follow Maya as she works hard to build fort of her dreams. Along the way, she’ll discover the value of teamwork and asking for help when she needs it. Even if something happens that seems to completely wreck the entire plan, maybe, just maybe, things will still work out. And maybe, just maybe, things will be even better than expected.

This whimsically illustrated woodland book is the perfect blend of magic and reality. Made fanciful with adorable and helpful woodland creatures while remaining extremely relatable, this is an especially good story for the child who struggles with changes to plans. We can all relate to designing a plan, having to ask for help executing the plan, and being frustrated by unavoidable obstacles to the plan. I also think we can all relate to being blessed with the plan turning out to be more than we ever asked or imagined. This book could easily be followed with a reading of Ephesians 3:20-21, which is alluded to in the dedication of this picture book.

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1. What did Maya do to prepare to build her fort?
2. Even after careful planning, was Maya able to construct the fort on her own? Why?
3. What kinds of changes have you had to adjust to when things didn’t go according to plan?
4. Each of the animals helped in different ways. What are things you are good at doing?
5. Have you ever had something turn out even better than you thought it would? How did that make you feel?