Billie B Brown 22 – The Hat Parade

Sally Rippin's The Hat Parade is a Billie B Brown story for 5 year olds about a shoebox hat, a school prize and a cold that arrives at the worst possible moment.

What happens

Billie has her heart set on the Best Hat prize at Monday's parade. Lola won it last year. This year Billie has a shoebox covered in feathers and ribbons, and she's sure it's a winner.

Her best friend Jack helps her make lots more. They wear them to dinner and talk in funny voices until baby Noah spits mashed potato everywhere. But Jack won't wear a fancy hat in the parade himself. He's too shy, and worried the other kids will laugh.

Then it rains all Sunday. Dad tells Billie to put on her coat and hat before she goes out, and she forgets. (Your reader will probably spot that before Billie does!) The book even stops to ask them if they can remember what it was.

By Monday morning Billie is sick, sick, sick. Her throat hurts, her nose won't stop running and all her beautiful hats are sitting on the cupboard. That's when Jack has an idea of his own. No spoilers, but it's a lovely moment for any child who's ever felt shy.

Billie's day on the sofa will feel very familiar to anyone who's been stuck at home poorly. Dad lets her watch the same film three times, there's chicken soup on a tray and she gets through a whole box of tissues. Missing something you've been looking forward to for ages is a BIG deal at five, and the book takes that seriously.

It's the twenty-second Billie B Brown book. Short sentences, big feelings, and a question right at the start about what the B in her name stands for (this time it's Box). Words like sick and really come back in threes, which makes it a nice one to read aloud or to try on their own.

If you've got a reader who's always making things out of boxes and bits, they'll be cheering Billie on. It's also a gentle one about being a good friend when things go wrong.

What to read next

If Billie goes down well, Billie's first collection gathers ten of her earliest stories, starting with a lunchtime when the boys say girls can't play soccer.