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.

Jan Brett's audience will not be surprised to hear that a real hedgehog, Buffy, is part of the family, along with Jan, husband Joe Hearne, and Siberian husky Perky Pumpkin. Buffy became the inspiration for The Hat when one morning, after searching and searching, Jan and Joe found her in a slipper sock, unable to get out because of her prickles. Place is always important in the creation of Jan's books. Jan and Joe traveled to Denmark, where Jan found just the right setting on the "garden island" of Fuenan, the home of Hans Christian Andersen, where roses bloom in winter and marzipan is the local delicacy. There Jan spent many hours walking and sketching.