Bertie the gardener loves his tatty, old, brown, floppy hat - his dog, Oscar, has one too. Bertie is content with his life and the hat that he wears everywhere, including in the bath. That is, until he sees someone else looking important, in a different hat (a bowler hat). Bertie decides he needs a different image and goes from hat to hat (much to the dismay of Oscar) in his quest to look important, dignified, professional, clever, mysterious and magical. In the end, Bertie comes to realise that the hats can't change his character. He also discovers that he already was important, dignified, professional and clever, working his own magic in the garden - after all, Bertie is an excellent Gardner.

Maddison is a new student at the school. Everyone tries to help her settle in, but it's just not working. What is the problem? This book is part of the Streetwise series, ideal for developing both reading skills and an awareness of personal, social and health education topics. As with all books in the series, the short story is followed by questions, discussion points and activity suggestions, which can be used as a springboard for further work.

This book aims to explore what queer thinking and new materialist feminist thought might offer the field of sexuality education. It argues that queer theory in education might be queered further by drawing on feminist new materialism and extending itself to subjects beyond sexual and gender identities/issues, including a focus on 'things'. Allen explores how new materialism as a form of queer thinking, might be brought to bear on other important issues of social justice such as, classroom cultural and religious diversity.