The Not Perfect Hat Club

By Jena Ball

The Not Perfect Hat Club is the story of three perfectionists – a purebred golden retriever who failed as a show dog, a skateboarding slam poet, and a classical violinist – discover that perfect is not an option and become the best of friends in the process.

• Language: English
• Publisher: CritterKin Publishing
• Release date: Aug 28, 2015
• ISBN: 9780996065771

Book preview

The Not Perfect Hat Club

The Not Perfect Hat Club

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The Not Perfect Hat Club

by

Jena Ball

Copyright 2015 by Jena Ball. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2015 by Jena Ball

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

ISBN 978-0-9960657-7-1

First Printing 2015

CritterKin Publishing

1903 Arboretum Trace

Cary, North Carolina 27518

Dedication

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Dedicated to all the weird, wacky and wonderfully not perfect kids who taught me that perfect is not an option.

Introduction

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The Not Perfect Hat Club was born the day I was finally able to hear what students had been telling me for months. We'd had a great time reading a CritterKin story, and I was about to teach them how to draw one of the main characters. How would you like to learn to draw a dog? I asked. Initially, the kids were really excited and enthusiastic. They raced to get their pencil boxes and markers, and were ready to go in no time. But the moment we put pencil to paper, the complaints started.

I can't draw.

Mine is ugly.

I messed it up!

This was nothing new. By this time, I'd heard similar derogatory statements in dozens of classrooms in the U.S., Canada and Australia, and no amount of reassurance seemed to help. It was frustrating and deeply troubling to see the faces of eager, smiling kids shut down the moment they started to draw. I didn't get it. Drawing a dog was something new. Why did the kids expect to be perfect right off the bat? More importantly, what was perfect?  That's when it occurred to me to ask. Why do you think your drawings are ugly? I said to the kids.

It doesn't look like yours, one student said.

It doesn't look like a real dog, said another.

That's when it hit me. The kids were comparing and judging their work based on standards outside themselves. It wasn't fun because they weren't letting their own creativity guide them.

Okay, time out, I said. Everyone put down your pencils and look at me. When I had their attention, I grabbed a floppy, old straw hat I had lying on the table and put it on. The hat has seen better days. It is sun bleached, with a bedraggled sunflower on the brim. Do you know what this is? I asked the kids. Silently they shook their heads no. This is my not perfect hat, I explained. I wear it whenever I am learning to do something new so I can just relax and have fun. I want you to all imagine what your hats would look like. Would they have rainbows or lightning bolts shooting out of the top? What color would they be? Would you decorate them with glitter or ribbons or sequins?

I gave the kids a minute or so to think about it, then asked them to draw their hats. This time there was no whining or comments about their work being ugly. How could there be? There was nothing for them to compare their hats to. They were a simple reflection of each child's inner reality, and they loved it!

The story you are about to read is a direct result of that class and dozens more that followed. I wanted to give children stories and characters whose lives reflected their struggles with perfection; to help them find and celebrate what makes them unique. Because in reality, perfection is an illusion.  Life is about learning through trial and error. We do ourselves and our children a huge disservice if we teach them there is only one right way, one set of standards and rules by which to judge themselves and everyone else. What we need are creative, outside the box thinkers who aren't afraid to question; who see mistakes as opportunities to learn and diversity as something to be celebrated and explored.

Chapter 1 - A Not Perfect Dog

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Welcome to the Not Perfect Hat Club. My name is Sir Isaac Oliver Newton, but you can call me Newton. This is the story of how I found my forever home, and learned it's okay to be not perfect.

Sir Isaac Oliver Newton is the fancy, purebred name my first family gave me. Being a purebred dog meant I was supposed to grow up to be a champion.

From the moment my trainer started teaching me to sit, stay and heel, I did my best. I didn't chew my sister's ear or bark at other dogs. I even ignored the stinky cats in our backyard. But there was one thing I couldn't do. I couldn't change the size of my nose, the length of my tail, or the color of my fur.

Every time I went to dog shows, and stood beside all the other beautiful golden retrievers, I wanted to hide. I knew that when the judge came to look at me he would find something wrong. Better luck next time, my disappointed trainer would say as we left the show ring.

Back at the kennel, the other dogs would make fun of me. Newton is a loser, they'd bark. This hurt my feelings and made me sad.

Then one day, instead of going to school, my trainer Mark drove me to a big brick building called  Animal Control.

After pulling into a parking spot and turning off the engine, Mark opened the back door and said, Okay buddy, out you go!

No, no, no, I whined.

When I still refused to get