Bramble and the Bottle-Top Boat

Bramble the badger found a shiny red bottle top beside the park pond. It was round like a tiny plate and bright as a berry.

“That will make a fine boat!” he said. He set it on the water. Plop! It floated, but spun in circles.

Bramble hurried home for a twig. He laid it across the bottle top. “A mast!” he said. Then he tied on a soft leaf with a grass stem.

A little breeze puffed the leaf sail. Still the boat turned round and round near the bank.

“Oh!” said Bramble. “It will not sail straight.”

Just then, Pippa the frog popped up beside him. Bramble looked at the pond, then at his long blue scarf.

“Can we use your scarf to see which way the breeze goes?” asked Pippa.

Bramble held one end high, and Pippa held the other on the grass. The blue scarf fluttered toward the willow tree.

“The breeze is going that way,” said Bramble. He put the boat at the clear pond edge, where they could both reach it.

Pippa pointed with her webbed foot. “Turn the mast a little.”

Bramble tipped the twig so the leaf sail faced the fluttering scarf.

They set the boat on the water again. It wobbled once, then glided beside the grassy bank instead of spinning.

“It is going straight!” said Pippa. She and Bramble walked along the pond edge, close beside their boat.

At the end of its short trip, Bramble lifted the boat from the water. The leaf sail was wet, but the red top still shone.

“It needs a passenger,” said Pippa. Bramble placed a yellow acorn cap inside, and Pippa found a tiny white feather.

Together they watched the boat glide smoothly along the bank once more.

“Tomorrow we can make another one,” said Bramble, winding his blue scarf around his neck.

“With two sails?” Pippa asked.

Bramble laughed. “With three!”