You Must Bring a Hat
It all starts with an invitation to a birthday party. The invitation bills it as the biggest, bestest, hattiest party of all time. Unworried by his hatless state at first, our young protagonist sets off but without success. He cannot find a hat anywhere. Undeterred, he cleverly finds a monkey with a hat to accompany him and off he goes. You would think this would be it, boy brings hat to party, end of story. The protagonist hadn’t reckoned, however, on a doorman who seems to have no other wish in life than to stop him entering his friend’s birthday party.
Every adult will at some point have had one of those calls with a customer service helpline…. you know the one where you are passed from pillar to post and asked to meet increasingly ridiculous requests for information. This witty tale from Simon Philip captures that sense of frustration brilliantly. The mole doorman lists off a string of increasingly bizarre and ridiculous criteria for the poor unsuspecting little boy. His frustration grows as he is continually refused entry despite producing, among other things, a piano-playing badger, a tutu-wearing elephant and a penguin with a suitcase full of cheese.
Kate Hindley’s illustrations perfectly pick up on the mounting frustration of the little boy and the comic menagerie he is building as he desperately tries to gain entry to the party. Her pictures hold hints to the joke that a young reader will eventually figure out. A great book for ages 3-6 that grows to a hilarious climax.
