Fortunately
By Remy Charlip
The Story
A boy named Ned races a thousand miles to a surprise party, and every stroke of good luck — a borrowed airplane, a handy parachute — flips into disaster and back again.
Why It's Special
For the kid who gasps at every plot twist and demands you turn the page faster, this is a story built entirely out of cliffhangers.
- Big idea: Luck is never just one thing — bad turns can flip to good, and good can flip right back, so you keep going either way.
- Vibes: breathless, seesawing, gleefully absurd, black-and-white-and-color visual rhythm
Perfect For Kids Who
- love predictable patterns with a twist
- enjoy stories with narrow escapes and cliffhangers
- like to guess what happens on the next page
- respond well to alternating rhythms of good news and bad news
Ask Your Little Reader
- Story structure: Can you remember something fortunate that happened to Ned, and then something unfortunate right after?
- Imagination: If you were Ned, which part of the journey would scare you the most — the airplane, the parachute, or something else?
- Real-life connection: Have you ever had a bad thing turn into a good thing, like Ned's luck does?
- Feelings & empathy: How do you think Ned felt every time something unfortunate happened right when things were going well?
- Prediction: What do you think might go fortunately — or unfortunately — for Ned next?
