Regifting: One Snowy Night by M. Christina Butler

THE COLD WIND AWOKE LITTLE HEDGEHOG FROM HIS DEEP WINTER SLEEP.

HE SHIVERED IN THE SNOW.

SUDDENLY, SOMETHING FELL FROM THE SKY.... THUD!

IT WAS A PRESENT AND IT HAD HIS NAME ON IT.

INSIDE WAS A RED WOOLLY HAT... HEDGEHOG SIZE!

It is an appropriate gift from Father Christmas, just the right size, except that Father Christmas failed to allow room for Hedgehog's quills. Little Hedgehog pulls it this way and that to try to fit in all of his prickles, and soon the little red hat is stretched all out of shape for a little hedgehog. What to do?

Then Little Hedgehog has an inspiration. Rabbit! He needs a red woolly hat too! Little Hedgehog wraps it up nicely, inscribes a gift tag to Rabbit and scurries over to leave it on his friend's doorstep.

But Little Hedgehog has forgotten about Rabbit's ears. The woolly hat fits his head, but not his long ears! Rabbit is frustrated, until he thinks of someone who does not have big, long ears to get in the way! Badger!

Rabbit re-wraps the present and drops it off at Badger's front door, feeling good about his largess. But Badger's little ears are completely swamped inside the thick woolly cap.

"I CAN'T USE THIS HAT. I CAN'T HEAR A THING!"

So off goes the regifted red hat, this time to Fox's house. Fox is foxy enough to figure out that he can make holes in the hat for his ears, and sets off through the snowy night, snug and warm. But what's that in the snow?

FOX DUG AND DUG. IT'S A SMALL, COLD HEDGEHOG.

"POOR LITTLE FELLOW."

Fox tucks the half-frozen Little Hedgehog inside the now well-stretched woolly hat and takes him home to warm up and continue his long winter sleep inside his now lovely warm red, woolly blanket.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS, LITTLE HEDGEHOG." BUT LITTLE HEDGEHOG WAS FAST ASLEEP.

What goes around comes around in M.Christina Butler's classic Touch-And-Feel One Snowy Night now available with its touchable red fleecy hat in an accessible board book format for the youngest readers. Sweet and simple, this one, paired with Fiona Watt's That's Not My Santa (Usborne Touchy-Feely) make great stocking stuffer choices for a child's first Christmas books.