Age: Preschool-1st grade

Mr. Brown had no friends and he didn't want any but secretly he was lonely. One day as the fox was sleeping, a woodpecker thought Mr. Brown's hat would make a lovely nest and pecked a hole right through it while inviting his friends to roost. At first upset with this intrusion, Mr. Brown soon adores his feathered friends and the lovely songs they fill the air with. A great invitation to develop inference, the birds leave when the weather gets cold (but why, the author does not say) and Mr. Brown is left worrying about them. After he finally falls asleep, he wakes up from his hibernation to find that the birds returned and his hat has turned into a tree. The text is written with a perfect touch of suspense and character and the illustrations are detailed and inviting.