The Hat Parade Read online

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Copyright Page

  Billie B Brown has one shoebox, five feathers and three rolls of ribbon.

  Can you guess what the B in Billie B Brown stands for?

  Box.

  Jack is Billie’s best friend. He lives next door. Today Jack is helping Billie make funny hats from boxes.

  ‘Look at me!’ Billie laughs. She puts a shoebox on her head. It is covered with feathers and ribbons.

  ‘That is the best hat ever!’ Jack laughs. ‘You will definitely win with that hat!’

  Billie smiles. On Monday there will be a hat parade at school. Billie really, really wants to win the prize for Best Hat.

  Lola won last year. This year Billie is sure she can win!

  ‘You should go in the parade too, Jack!’ Billie says. She plops a funny hat on his head and giggles.

  ‘Nah,’ says Jack. His cheeks turn pink.

  Billie knows he’s too shy to wear a fancy hat. He is scared the other kids might laugh at him.

  Some boys wear hats in the parade. But usually they wear plain old caps.

  Or maybe they stick a leaf in their school hats. None of them wear fancy hats. Billie thinks they are silly. Fancy hats are obviously the best. Nobody has ever won Best Hat in a cap!

  Billie and Jack spend all afternoon making hats.

  Some of them are very funny! Billie’s mum and dad invite Jack to stay for dinner. Everyone wears Billie’s fancy hats to the table. They talk in funny voices. Baby Noah laughs so hard he spits mashed potato everywhere.

  It has been the best day ever.

  The next day is Sunday. It rains all day. It rains so hard that Billie can’t go outside to play. She tries to play with Noah, but he is too annoying. Billie gets mad at him.

  Then Noah begins to cry. ‘Mum!’ Billie yells. ‘Noah is messing up my game!’

  ‘He is only little,’ Billie’s mum says. ‘And he is feeling cranky because he has a cold.’ She takes Noah to have his nap.

  Now Billie is really bored. She doesn’t want to do any more craft. And Dad says, ‘No more screens.’ Billie really wants to go outside and play.

  She is so wriggly it feels like she has ants in her pants.

  That afternoon, the rain begins to clear. ‘Dad, look!’ Billie shouts. ‘Now can I go outside?’

  ‘All right,’ Dad says. ‘But put on your coat and hat. It’s cold and wet outside.’

  ‘Yay!’ Billie says.

  She runs outside to find Jack. But she has forgotten something very important. Something her dad told her to do.

  Can you remember what it is?

  Billie and Jack ride their bikes up and down the lane. The wind whooshes through their clothes. It feels good to be outside after being stuck inside all morning.

  ‘Look at me!’ Billie yells.

  She rides through a deep puddle. The muddy water splashes all around her. Now she is spattered with brown spots.

  Soon it starts to rain again. At first it rains lightly. Then it rains harder.

  ‘I’m going inside now,’ Jack says. ‘I don’t want to get wet.’

  ‘It’s only water!’ Billie yells.

  But by the time she goes back inside she is as wet and muddy as a puppy.

  That night at the dinner table, Billie starts to sneeze. Her eyes water and her nose feels stuffy.

  Even though Billie’s dad has cooked her very favourite dinner, Billie doesn’t feel hungry at all.

  Billie’s dad tucks her into bed. Billie’s face feels hot. Her head has begun to hurt.

  ‘Hmmm …’ her dad says.

  ‘It looks like you have caught a cold, Billie. You might have to stay home from school tomorrow.’

  ‘I can’t stay home tomorrow,’ Billie says. ‘It’s the hat parade!’

  ‘Well, let’s see how you feel when you wake up,’ her dad says.

  He gives her some medicine for her headache. Then he tucks her into bed and kisses her goodnight.

  The next morning, Billie’s whole body hurts. Her throat is sore, too. Outside the rain is pouring down.

  Billie B Brown is sick, sick, sick.

  Jack comes to visit Billie before school. ‘I’m going to miss the hat parade,’ Billie croaks. She looks at all her beautiful hats sitting on her cupboard. She has spent so much time making them.

  Now no-one will see her hats. She feels a hot tear trickle down her cheek.

  ‘Oh, Billie,’ says Jack. He looks sad. He puts the fanciest hat on his head. Then he pulls a funny face to make his best friend laugh.

  But it is no use. Billie feels sadder than ever.

  ‘But you have to be in the parade,’ Jack says. ‘This is the best, most fancy hat ever!’

  Billie hangs her head. ‘I guess Lola will win Best Hat again this year,’ she says, sighing.

  Jack frowns and his cheeks turn very pink. ‘No,’ he says. ‘I will wear your hat in the parade, Billie. I’ll win the prize for both of us!’

  Billie stares at Jack in surprise. ‘But what if the other kids laugh at you?’ she says.

  ‘Who cares?’ Jack says.

  He looks in the mirror and shrugs. ‘It’s good to make people laugh. Laughing is the best!’

  Billie giggles. It is true. Laughing does make you feel better!

  All day, Billie feels achey and tired. Her dad stays home from work and makes Billie a bed on the sofa. Noah is at childcare and Billie’s mum is at work.

  Billie’s dad lets her watch Finding Nemo three times in a row. He brings her lemon in hot water and chicken soup on a tray.

  Billie likes being home with her dad, but she is sad she is missing the hat parade. Plus, her head is sore and her nose won’t stop running. Billie has been through a whole box of tissues! It’s no fun being sick.

  After lunch, Billie’s dad works on his computer.

  Billie snoozes on the sofa. It rains all day. Billie wakes up when she hears Jack’s voice in the kitchen.

  ‘Billie! Billie!’ he yells. He runs into the lounge room.

  ‘Shhh!’ says Billie’s dad. ‘Billie is sleeping.’

  ‘No, I’m not,’ Billie says.

  She has been waiting all day to see him. ‘How was the parade?’ she asks. ‘Did we win Best Hat?’

  Jack sits down next to Billie. He shakes his head. ‘No. Lola won Best Hat again. Her hat had a whole city built on it!’ He frowns. ‘I’m sure her mum and dad helped her.’

  Billie sighs. ‘Oh well,’ she says. She looks at her fancy hat in Jack’s lap.

  Jack gets a strange look on his face. ‘What’s so funny?’ Billie asks.

  ‘Well, Lola did win the Best Hat award,’ says Jack.

  ‘But we won something even better!’ Jack pulls two silky red ribbons out of his pocket and hands one to Billie.

  Billie gasps. ‘What’s this?’

  ‘When I put your fancy hat on, some of the kids laughed at me,’ Jack says.

  ‘But then Ms Walton saw I was wearing the hat you made because you were sick today. So she made up a special award just for us. She called it the Best Friend award.’ Jack grins. ‘No-one laughed at me after that.’

  ‘Wow!’ Billie says. ‘The Best Friend award!’ She smiles up at Jack. ‘That’s much better than a silly old hat award.’

  ‘That’s what I thought, too,’ Jack says.

  Billie looks down at the beautiful silky red ribbon. It’s the first award she has ever won.

  She feels very proud. She pins the ribbon to her pyjama top. Jack pins his ribbon on, too.

  Just then the rain stops. The sun begins to peek out from behind the clouds.

  ‘Dad, look!’ Billie says. ‘Ther
e’s a rainbow.

  Please can we go outside to see it? I’ve been inside all day. And I’m feeling much better now!’

  ‘Well, OK. Just for a little bit …’ Billie’s dad says.

  ‘Thanks, Dad!’ Billie says. She jumps up from the sofa.

  ‘But this time don’t forget your coat,’ her dad calls after her.

  ‘I won’t!’ Billie says.

  ‘Or your hat!’ her dad jokes. He hands Billie her fancy hat.

  ‘I’d better take a hat, too,’ Jack giggles. He picks up a tissue box and puts it on his head.

  Billie and Jack sit on the back porch. They look up at the beautiful rainbow. Billie strokes her silky red ribbon. Then she looks at Jack in his silly hat and laughs. ‘Ms Walton is right,’ she says. ‘You really are the best friend ever.’

  ‘And the fanciest!’ Jack grins.

  The Hat Parade

  published in 2020 by

  Hardie Grant Egmont

  Ground Floor, Building 1, 658 Church Street

  Richmond, Victoria 3121, Australia

  www.hardiegrantegmont.com

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers and copyright holders.

  Text copyright © 2020 Sally Rippin

  Illustration copyright © 2020 Aki Fukuoka

  Series design copyright © 2020 Hardie Grant Egmont

  Design and typesetting by Stephanie Spartels

  eISBN 9781743586921

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  Sally Rippin, The Hat Parade

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