Mark Rhodes - Hot Dog Hal CBeebies Bedtime Stories

CBeebies Bedtime Story.

Hi, I'm Mark.

And guess what - I'm here to read you a bedtime story.

It's a story about a dog,

a dog called Hal.

And Hal has a special blanket that he loves very much.

The story is called Hot Dog Hal,

and it's written by Peter Bently

and illustrated by Tom McLaughlin.

Hal loved his blanket, there's no doubt about it.

He wore it all day and went nowhere without it.

He loved it, although he felt boiling and flustered

and looked like a sausage all covered in mustard.

"In fact," chuckled Buster McNally, his pal,

"from now on, I'm calling you Hot Dog Hal."

Hal wore his blanket for strolling and chasing.

BUCK-BUCK!

He wore it for catching and snatching and racing.

He wore it for digging up big, tasty bones

with Buster and Tootsie and young Nipper Jones.

"Hey, Hot Dog," said Buster,

"you look like you're stewing."

"I'm fine," panted Hal, as he carried on chewing.

"I've had this old blanket since I was a pup.

"I know it's too hot, but I won't give it up."

Hal wore his blanket

for trips to the zoo.

If he went to the seaside,

along it went, too.

The blanket made Hal feel exceedingly hot,

but would he remove it?

Most certainly not.

It made all the other dogs giggle and scoff.

But in spite of the heat, he would not take it off.

"It's cosy and cuddly and snuggly as well.

"And it has a nice biscuity, chocolaty smell."

"A blanket," said Tootsie, "belongs on a bed."

"A blanket? Oh, no, it's a hammock," Hal said.

"It's a Halloween costume, a ghostly disguise.

"It's even got two little holes for my eyes.

"It's a sail, it's a house,

"it's a cape, it's a flag."

"Don't be daft," chuckled Nipper.

"It's just an old rag."

"Never mind, Hot Dog," grinned Buster McNally.

"Come and play hide and seek down in the alley."

While Buster was counting, it started to rain

so they ran to the windmill in Ticklemore Lane.

The weather grew worse as they fled helter-skelter

up the rickety staircase and into their shelter.

They huddled inside, it was really quite frightening

as the old windmill shook in the thunder and lightning.

"Come under my blanket, it's lovely and warm," said Hal.

"It will make you feel safe from the storm."

His friends snuggled under and had to agree

that the blanket was rather a nice place to be.

Then the pooches all yelped as the lightning went flash

and the thunder went boom.

And then something went crash!

"Yikes, what was that?" wondered Hal with a frown.

"The staircase," cried Buster, "it's just fallen down."

"Oh, no," fretted Nipper, "what terrible luck.

"We are trapped in a windmill," he whimpered. "We're stuck."

"If only," cried Tootsie, "we had a long rope."

And suddenly, Hal felt a glimmer of hope.

"We don't have a rope, that's for certain," he said.

"So we'll just have to use my old blanket instead."

He tore it in strips, then tied up the ends,

and climbed down to safety with all of his friends.

Said Buster and Nipper, "I'm sorry we laughed.

"I'm sorry we said that your blanket was daft."

"But I can't go on wearing it now," Hal said sadly.

"It's torn and it's battered, and tattered so badly."

Then Buster grinned.

"I've an idea," he said. DING!

"We just need some scissors, a needle and thread."

Now, Hal and his friends go to play in the alley

in their trendy new shirts made by Buster McNally.

On one side of Hal's, it says...

..but his friends all have shirts that say

"Hot Dog is cool!"

Hot Dog certainly is cool.

He really is, isn't he?

Do you have a special blanket that you love, just like Hal?

Well, if you do, now's the time to snuggle up with it

and drift off to sleep.

Happy Hot Dog dreams.

I'll see you again soon

for another Bedtime Story.