That Is Not My Hat!Electronic book published by ipicturebooks.com24 W. 25th St. New York, NY 10011 www.ipicturebooks.comAll rights reserved. Copyright 1998 by The Millbrook Press, Inc.Real Kids Readers and the Real Kids Readers logo are trademarks of The Millbrook Press, Inc.No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. e-ISBN 1-58824-498-9 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataVenn, Cecilia.That is not my hat / by Cecilia Venn ; photography by Dorothy Handelman.p. cm. _ (Real kids readers. Level 3)Summary: When Kates little brother loses his hat, Kate, Lisa, Max, and Nick all try to think of a plan to help him find it.ISBN 0-7613-2008-3 (lib. bdg.). _ISBN 0-7613-2033-4 (pbk.)1. Lost and found possessions_Fiction. 2. Hats_Fiction. I. Handelman, Dorothy, ill. II. Title. III. Series. PZ7.V558Th 1998 Fic_dc21That Is Not My Hat!Cecilia VennPhotographs by Dorothy HandelmanKate, Lisa, Max, and Nick met at Pocket Park one fine morning. It was a good day to do something. But what?Max dumped out his backpack. Stuff rolled everywhere. Nick drew a picture in his notebook. Lisa tried out a dance step.“This is getting us nowhere,” said Kate. “What can we do thats new?” She looked around the park, hoping for an idea.Pocket Park was small, with houses on the sides and a gate at each end. But it was the perfect size for Kate and her friends. In fact, they met there almost every day.“Ive got it!” said Kate. “Lets start a club.”6“What kind of club?” Nick asked.“Will we have a clubhouse?” Lisa asked.“Will there be snacks?” Max asked.“We can think about all of that later,” said Kate. “Just say yes if you want to be in a club.”“Yes,” said Nick.“Yes,” said Lisa.“Yes,” said Max.“Oh, oh, oh,” moaned a voice behind Kate.7It was Kates little brother, Sam. “Do you want to be in our club?” she asked him.“Oh, oh, oh,” Sam moaned again.“I think Sam is trying to tell us something,” Max said.Everyone looked at Sam.“My hat is gone,” said Sam. “My best, best hat is gone.”Kate rolled her eyes. “What do you mean, gone? Where is your hat, Sam?”89“I was on my way here,” said Sam. “But all of a sudden, a big, strong wind hit me. It blew my hat right off my head! My hat flew over the house. It flew higher than the trees. That hat is going to the moon!”Kate frowned. “It is not windy today, Sam. Where is your hat?”Sam looked at his feet. “I dont know,” he said sadly. “Will you guys help me find it?”Everyone started talking at once.“Wait!” cried Kate. “If we are going to find Sams hat, we need a plan. Lets start looking here in Pocket Park. We can each pick a spot.”Lisa danced along the fence. She stood on a bench to peek over the railing.Nick looked in the shed where the sports stuff was kept. He leaned over too far and fell into a box of balls.13Max dug in his pack and pulled out some string and a safety pin.“What is that for?” asked Sam.“This is my hat catcher,” said Max. He tied the string to the open pin. “See? I toss out my line. Then, if your hat is there, I catch it.” He started fishing in the tall grass.Kate ran to the playground. She climbed to the top of the slide. She could see the whole park from there. But she could not see Sams hat.14Kate slid down the slide. Nick met her at the bottom. “One thing is plain,” Kate said. “This plan is not working.” Max joined them. “Did you say plane?” he said. “Look what I caught.”Kate and Nick laughed.17Sam started moaning again. “Oh, oh. This is bad! There is no sign of my hat anywhere.”“Did you say sign?” Kate said. “Thats it! Well make a sign.”“A Missing Hat sign,” said Lisa.“It could be a Join Our Club sign too,” Kate said.Nick went to get his markers. Sam and Lisa went to get some paper. Max tried to fly the plane.The kids went to work. Soon they had five stacks of signs.Max looked at Sams stack. “You are missing something,” he said.“Yes,” said Sam. “I am missing my hat.”“You are also missing an s in the word missing,” said Nick.Sam fixed all his signs.Kate wrote, “Join the Pocket Park Club” on her signs. “Okay,” she said. “Lets go!”“Wait,” said Sam. “I need to get something first.”Sam ran home. When he came back, he was carrying a shoe box.“Whats that for?” asked Kate.“I cant tell you. Its tap secret,” said Sam.“You mean, its top secret,” said Kate.“No, I dont,” said Sam. “Just wait. Youll see.”Kate rolled her eyes. “Now can we go?” she said.“Sure,” said Sam. “Im ready.”22Nick hung signs on the park gates. Max went with him. He taped a sign to the back of his airplane.“What are you doing?” Nick asked.“Im making a flying sign,” said Max. “I will send it all over town.” He tossed the plane into the air, but it didnt go far.“I dont know, Max,” said Nick. “Its kind of hard to read upside down.”2425Kate and Lisa went around the b