Henry Heckelbeck Knights! Robots! Action!

by Wanda Coven, Priscilla Burris (Illustrator)

Overview

In this nineteenth Henry Heckelbeck adventure, Henry uses magic to bring some reality into a game of make-believe!

Henry and Dudley are building the pillow fort of their dreams! But Max doesn’t want to join in—she thinks she’s too old for pillow forts. Can a little bit of magic help Henry convince his friend that you’re never too old for imagination or playing pretend?

With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, the Henry Heckelbeck chapter books are perfect for emerging readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781665963008
Publisher:	Little Simon
Publication date:	08/26/2025
Series:	Henry Heckelbeck Series , #19
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 7.30(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	5 - 9 Years

About the Author

Wanda Coven has always loved magic. When she was little, she used to make secret potions from smooshed shells and acorns. Then she would pretend to transport herself and her friends to enchanted places. Now she visits other worlds through writing. Wanda lives with her husband and son in Colorado Springs, Colorado. They have three cats: Hilda, Agnes, and Claw-dia.

Priscilla Burris is the illustrator and author-illustrator of many books for children. She attributes her love of children’s books and library visits to the East Los Angeles Library. Priscilla loves her role of creating characters and stories for readers everywhere. She lives in sunny Arizona, where she finds the sunrises and sunsets awe-inspiring.

Read an Excerpt

“Look at all the boxes!” Henry Heckelbeck said to his best friend Dudley Day.

  They were standing in Henry’s garage, where some cardboard boxes were stacked up.

  “You know what empty boxes mean!” Dudley said.

  The two best friends locked eyes.

  “BOX FORT!” they shouted.

The boys grabbed the boxes by the flaps. One by one, they dragged them into the living room.

  “Let’s build the world’s biggest fort!” Henry said, stacking blankets from the hall closet into Dudley’s waiting arms.

    “Yeah!” Dudley agreed. “So big that Max won’t even believe it!”

  Max Maplethorpe, their other best friend, was coming over to play later.

  The boys wanted to finish the fort before Max arrived. They stacked pillows, arranged the boxes, and draped blankets over everything. They even strung lights inside the fort.

  Dudley pointed to the left side of the fort.

  “The docking bay for our robot hovercraft can go there,” Dudley said. “It’s the perfect getaway spot.”

Henry put down the box he was holding.

  “What robot hovercraft?” he said. “Don’t you mean horse stables? Every knight’s castle has to have horse stables!”

  The boys stared at each other. Clearly they had two VERY different ideas about their fort!

  “I know! Let’s have both,” Henry said. “We can use one box for the stables and another one for the docking bay.”

    Dudley smiled and added, “We can decorate the boxes with markers!”

  Then Dudley jumped onto a long sofa pillow. In a robotic voice, he said, “Beedo-beep-bop! Now departing for Henry’s art supplies in three... two... one...”

    Fwomp! Henry jumped onto the pillow too.

  “BLAST OFF!” he shouted.