Brand Storyteller & Creative Director Copy
SILLY HAT DAY
Children's Book
Today’s almost over.
It’s all we can take.
Tomorrow’s the last day
before Christmas break.
Up and down in our seats,
we were starting to bounce,
and that’s when our teacher,
Miss Nelson, announced:
“Listen up, class,
to all that I say,
for tomorrow,” she said,
“will be Silly Hat Day.”
“For our school’s Christmas pageant
and the Lighting of Trees,
you may fix up a hat
any way that you please.
And your family can help you
if that’s what you wish.
You may fix it up plain
or be wild and stylish.
The choices are endless
as you all make your hat.”
And I sat and I wondered
if I could do that!
I started to stress
and panic and worry.
The bell rang. I packed up
and left in a hurry.
As I got to my house,
it all became clear.
I would need someone’s help,
and that someone lives here!
Since ideas for me
are always a bother,
I will do this assignment
with some help from my father.
My dad is an artist
with a shop in the attic.
He is an artistic,
creative fanatic.
He sits in his workshop
creating away,
drawing and painting
and sculpting all day.
I knew when I asked him,
I’d have no resistance.
Dad’s always delighted
to add some assistance.
My father is helpful
and has a big heart.
When I asked him, he smiled and said,
“When can we start?”
I said, “It’s a contest.
Can we make me the winner?”
Mom said we could start
when we finished our dinner.
We quickly ate supper.
Mom fixed us spaghetti.
We had one Christmas cookie
and then we were ready.
Back to the attic
we climbed with a snack
and began to design
our plan of attack.
I couldn’t decide
on the theme of my hat.
“It’s Christmastime,” Dad said,
“so let’s go with that.”
I agreed with my father
with all that he said.
We began to create
a fun hat for my head.
Though our attic’s the place
for my father’s creations,
it’s also the home
of our tree’s decorations.
A plain Santa hat,
Dad said, would be key,
and some bendable branches
from our old Christmas tree.
We uncovered a box
wrapped in clear cellophane
and began to attach
last year’s old candy canes.
Dad laughed to himself and said,
“Sure. This makes sense!”
when we stumbled upon
some unused ornaments.
We added white feathers,
and because we had room,
we popped in a poinsettia
in front of the plume.
I kept handing Dad objects
just to dare him to use them.
As my choices got stranger,
he didn’t refuse them!
When I gave him an item
I thought he’d not do,
he smiled and applied it
with a gun and hot glue.
A truly odd project,
this headwear eclectic.
With my dad’s eyes ablaze,
he said, “Let’s get electric!”
With batteries strapped
on my now-heavy head,
“It lights up like magic!”
my father then said.
When I looked in the mirror
at our festive invention,
I feared it might gather
just too much attention.
My hat will be the largest
in all the third grade,
as big as a float
in the Christmas parade.
Kindergartners might try
to use it for shade.
The hat we both made
now makes me AFRAID!
Dad said, “Just wear it.
You've no need to fear it.
Who won’t love a hat
with this much Christmas spirit?”
This GINORMOUS “Chris-tastrophe”
all flashing and blinking.
I asked my dear father,
“Just what were we thinking?”
“Tomorrow,” he said,
“if the power goes out,
they’ll have you in your hat,
to help find the way out!”
I knew he was joking
because he was smiling.
But his tale gave me visions,
of kids single filing
and pointing and laughing
at me in my hat.
Oh, what will I do?
I just can’t have that!
As I plotted and planned,
I knew I was in deep.
As my mind became busy,
I drifted . . . off . . . to . . .
When I woke the next morning
I started to worry.
I soon brushed my teeth
And I ate in a hurry.
My mind was still searching,
for just the right way,
to NOT wear my hat,
on Silly Hat Day.
Oh, how to destroy it,
or lose it or hide it?
There’s a simple solution,
so why can’t I find it?
I’ll sit on the bus,
and I know if I wear it
where the older kids ride
surely someone will tear it.
But Dad said, “I’ll drive
and you won’t have to a fuss.”
So my hat was protected
from the kids on the bus.
As I entered the building
it was just as I feared.
But one thing unexpected,
they all clapped and cheered.
All the teachers and students
and the ladies of lunch
and even the principal
liked it a bunch.
This hat we created
that I almost trashed
had attracted attention
as it blinked and flashed.
At our school Christmas pageant
when we took a group pic
they gave me a trophy
for my first place hat trick!
So they stood me in front
because I was the winner.
And to think that last night
I was just a beginner
I waited that day
for my dad in his car
to thank him for helping
to make me the star.
I told him the story
of cheering and grinning
of Christmas pic taking
and blinking and winning.
The hat we created
for a day in December
and that night in the attic
I will always remember.
The memories of Christmas
In my heart will stay
of my father and me
and Silly Hat Day.