A Hedgehog Bedtime Story: The Umbrella With a Square Patch

This hedgehog bedtime story follows Hazel as an umbrella repair turns into a rather damp experiment. Read the complete original story below, followed by a small idea for telling it together.

The Umbrella With a Square Patch

Hazel's umbrella had one small hole and a very loud drip. The drip always landed on the tip of her nose. It waited until she had almost forgotten about it, then dropped with astonishing accuracy.

"A clever hole," said Hazel, "but inconvenient."

She took the umbrella to Aunt Bristle's repair room. Rolls of cloth leaned against the wall. A tin of buttons rattled when the floorboards creaked. Aunt Bristle measured the hole with a ruler and cut a square from a yellow scrap.

Hazel watched the needle go in and out. She liked the yellow square. It looked like a window in the blue umbrella. When the last stitch was finished, Aunt Bristle held it up. "We should test it."

They stood beneath the porch while Aunt Bristle poured water from a little watering can. The patch stayed dry underneath. Hazel's nose stayed dry too. But a thin stream ran from the edge of the umbrella straight into her left shoe.

They looked down together. "A different problem," Aunt Bristle said.

Hazel tilted the handle. The stream moved into her right shoe. She tilted it back. The water found her left shoe again. Aunt Bristle set down the watering can before either of them laughed too hard to hold anything.

The umbrella was simply too narrow for Hazel's wide basket. She had been carrying it close against her coat, pushing the umbrella to one side. Aunt Bristle tried a longer handle. Hazel tried holding the basket behind her. Neither arrangement felt comfortable.

Then Hazel put the basket on her little wheeled shopping board. With one paw she pulled the board; with the other she held the umbrella directly overhead. The next test watered the porch, the steps and Aunt Bristle's slippers. Hazel remained dry.

By afternoon real rain arrived. Hazel walked home with the shopping board bumping gently behind her. Whenever she looked up, light came through the yellow patch. The rainy sky seemed to have a small sunny window.

At her gate she stopped to empty a puddle from the basket lid. She had remembered everything except a cover for the shopping.

Hazel tucked her scarf over the basket. Tomorrow she would ask Aunt Bristle about a square of waterproof cloth. Tonight there was warm soup waiting, and two perfectly dry shoes to leave beside the door.

Make this telling your own

Choose a color for the square patch before reading. For a hands-on retelling another day, draw the umbrella and add the little view through its repaired window. Try giving the accurate little drip a soft tapping sound, then let the repaired umbrella grow quiet. You can shorten the middle by keeping only the first rain test and the final walk.

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