The Hat

When Lisa's woolen stocking flies off the clothesline, Hedgie finds it and pokes his nose in. He tries to pull it out, but the stocking gets stuck on his prickles -- and the fun begins.

A mother hen comes by, then a noisy goose, a talkative barn cat, a playful farm dog, a mama pig and her piglets, and a pony. They all laugh at Hedgie, especially when he pretends he's wearing a new hat. But in the end, it is clever Hedgie who has the last laugh.

And where is Lisa when all of this is going on? She's in the borders, getting ready for winter, until she realizes her stocking is missing and she enters the story to look for it.

Jan Brett's luminous paintings of a Scandinavian farm and the forest around it are bathed in northern light, as the snow begins to fall and the story begins, in this delightfully original companion book to The Mitten.

Hedgie the hedgehog discovers the wisdom of the adage, "Don't go poking your nose where it doesn't belong" only after curiosity gets this prickly fellow in a pickle. When Lisa's red and white woolen stocking blows off the clothesline, Hedgie finds it and sticks his nose inside, only to discover his prickles prevent him from pulling out of it. Soon all the farm animals are coming around to chuckle at silly Hedgie's stocking hat. But in the end, nimble-witted Hedgie gets the last laugh.

This magnificently illustrated companion book to artist (and hedgehog owner) Jan Brett's classic The Mitten was the winner of the prestigious 1998 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award. Young readers can spend hours with this one short book, poring over the pleasing, spirited details of Brett's trademark picture borders. Throughout, Lisa can be seen in these artful frames, making preparations for the cold Scandinavian winter, never realizing that her clothesline is becoming more line than clothes. If it were possible to wrap oneself up in these warm, cozy illustrations, readers would be set for the winter. (Ages 4 to 8) --Emilie Coulter