When Someone Makes You Feel Small (The Hat With Two Colors)

A children's bedtime story about feeling small, inspired by a famous West African tale of a hat with two colors. Leo came home from the birthday party with a storm on his face: he did his best jump ever, and the new boy jumped right over it. On purpose, Leo is sure. On the front steps at dusk, his grandpa tells him about two best friends, one road, and the finest hat that ever walked between them. For children 4 to 8, and whoever sits beside them.About the tale: this retells a famous Yoruba teaching story from West Africa, in which a hat with two colors sets two best friends quarreling, each one certain of what he saw. In the oldest versions, the trickster Eshu wears the hat on purpose to test the friends; our traveler simply likes his hat that way. We kept the road, the two sides, and the laughter, and retold the rest for ages 4 to 8.