HURRICANE HILDA AND THE AVALANCHE Hurricane Hilda had a fantastic bedroom. She had toys, books, puzzles, games, dressing up costumes, and exciting posters on the walls. When Hurricane Hilda was very little, her mother would tidy the bedroom each evening, so that Hurricane Hilda would wake up surrounded by all her things in their proper places. One snowy winter’s day, Mummy explained to Hurricane Hilda that she was now big enough to learn to tidy her own things away each day. Mummy spent a whole week showing Hurricane Hilda how to collect her toys together, and where to put everything. The following week Hurricane Hilda was trusted with the job of tidying up her toys by herself. But instead of putting things carefully where they belonged, Hurricane Hilda thought she would save time and effort by piling her things on top of each other in one big cupboard. Each evening when Mummy checked Hurricane Hilda’s bedroom, she was pleased to see the room looking tidy. Mummy thought that Hurricane Hilda was being very good at putting her things away properly. But Mummy did not know that toys were piling higher and higher inside the cupboard. By the end of the week the pile was in danger of crashing to the ground! Then something terrible happened! Mummy was looking for a bedtime story book to read to Hurricane Hilda, and she opened the cupboard where all the toys were piled up. Everything tumbled out of the cupboard like an avalanche! There was an enormous “CRASH!” as all of Hurricane Hilda’s favourite toys and books were broken and torn when they landed on the floor. Mummy was very disappointed because Hurricane Hilda had not been putting her toys away properly, and most of her things were now broken. Hurricane Hilda learned her lesson, and now she always puts her toys away carefully where they belong. She turns tidy-up time into a game and sings a song to make it more fun: All the little girls and boys, Should learn to tidy up their toys, It’s fun to put your things away, Nice and neat for the next day! HURRICANE HILDA SEIZES THE MOMENT One beautiful spring morning Hurricane Hilda woke up in a very mischievous mood. Each time she noticed that Mummy was not watching her, she did something naughty… First, Hurricane Hilda saw a brand new toilet roll in the bathroom. She unrolled the whole thing into a big pile of paper on the floor! When Mummy saw it she was quite shocked, and she asked Hurricane Hilda why she had done it. “I seized my moment!” said Hurricane Hilda. When she got dressed, Hurricane Hilda left clothes and shoes all over the bedroom floor instead of tucking them away tidily in the drawers and the wardrobe. Mummy was amazed at the mess, and she asked Hurricane Hilda why she had done it. “I seized my moment!” said Hurricane Hilda. During breakfast, Hurricane Hilda splashed milk and cereal on the table and it dribbled onto the floor. Mummy was very sad to see such a waste of good food, and she asked Hurricane Hilda why she had done it. “I seized my moment!” said Hurricane Hilda. While Mummy was cleaning up the mess in the bathroom, bedroom and kitchen, Hurricane Hilda went into the living room and put all the DVDs into the wrong cases. Then she slipped quietly into the back garden and picked the heads off a few daffodils and stuck them in the watering can! Mummy took one look at what the naughty girl had done and before she could ask why she had done it, Hurricane Hilda said, “I seized my moment!” Well, Mummy could not take any more. She told Hurricane Hilda that she could choose the Happy Way or the Sad Way. If Hurricane Hilda continued to seize the moment to be naughty, then all the toys would vanish from Hurricane Hilda’s fantastic bedroom. That made Hurricane Hilda think hard about how naughty she had been, and she decided that from now on she would seize the moment to be good instead of naughty. Now, whenever she notices that Mummy is not watching her, Hurricane Hilda tidies up, or paints a picture, or sings a little song to make Mummy happy: I seized my moment, made a mess, Which made my Mummy sad, But now I choose the Happy Way, And everyone is glad! HURRICANE HILDA: THINKING IS INVISIBLE Hurricane Hilda was lying on the grass in her back garden one hot summer’s day, watching the butterflies and clouds in the sky and daydreaming to herself. Mummy was reading a book in the shade of a tree. Suddenly Hurricane Hilda said, “Thinking is invisible, isn’t it, Mummy?” Mummy was surprised, as she had never thought about it like that before. She considered it for a moment, and then she said, “Yes, Hurricane Hilda, thinking is invisible, because nobody can see what you are thinking. If you want to show people what you are thinking, you must tell a story, or draw a picture, or sing a song about it, or something. There are lots of ways to make invisible thoughts come to life!” Hurricane Hilda had lots of invisible thoughts, which she wanted to share with her friends and family. So she decided to find ways to bring her ideas to life… Hurricane Hilda had dreamt of the Land of Night, where all the creatures of the night lived. She made a collage on a large sheet of black cardboard, with sparkling characters sprinkled with “moon dust” glitter. There was a jolly Man-in-the-Moon, and a sleepy looking Sandman. The Tooth Fairy was fluttering above a child’s pillow, and Santa Claus was stuck in a chimney! Jack Frost was dripping with icicles, while The Dewdrop Fairy was sprinkling the pretty flowers with dew. All were surrounded by owls and bats and twinkling stars. Another idea Hurricane Hilda had, was to make a potion to give her magical powers. So she poured some orange, lime and blackcurrant juices into a glass of fizzy lemonade and offered her mother a taste of the sweet-smelling mixture. Hurricane Hilda had imagined dinosaurs, monsters and dragons all playing football together. She shaped the scary, multi-coloured creatures from modelling clay, and gave them glowing yellow and red eyes, and sharp white horns and teeth. Then she set them upon a green tablecloth, with drinking straws and a tiny ball, so that she could teach them to play blow-football! Mummy had told Hurricane Hilda that “Infinity” was twice the size of the biggest thing she could think of, and then twice the size again and again.... Or “Infinity” could be half the size of the smallest thing she could think of, and then half the size again and again… So Hurricane Hilda painted an Infinity Dot, which she could imagine growing ever-bigger or ever-smaller… forever… Lastly, Hurricane Hilda put rhyming words together in her head, and she invented a little song, to help other children bring their “Invisible Thinking” to life: Thinking is invisible, But you can share as well, Just make a thing to see or hear, Or taste or touch or smell!