You Must Bring a Hat!

by Simon Philip, Kate Hindley (Illustrator)

Overview

“You are cordially invited to the BIGGEST, BESTEST, HATTIEST party of all time!”
Come join the fun—but only if you have a hat. AND you know the entry rules. Unfortunately, there seems to be a surprising number of those, as a young boy discovers. Will he—and the cool collection of animals he befriends along the way—ever get in? Gloriously illustrated, the art contains loads of details that serve as clues to the satisfying surprise ending. Kids will read this thoroughly hilarious cumulative picture book again and again!

“Mounting exasperation, preposterous rules, and just plain fun make this party a surefire hit. (Picture book. 3-8)” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781454926887
Publisher:	Union Square Kids
Publication date:	08/08/2017
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	424,478
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	470L (what's this?)
Age Range:	2 - 5 Years

About the Author

Simon Philip was born in Chichester and has lived there ever since. After gaining a first-class degree in History at Exeter University, he immediately put his skills to good use working as a barman at a local pub. He soon grew tired of the owner calling him Andy, and so, naturally, decided to become a primary school teacher. Teaching rekindled his love of children’s literature, particularly picture books, so much so that he had a go at writing his own.
 
Kate Hindley is a children's book illustrator living and working in Birmingham, UK. She worked as a Print Designer at a Northamptonshire-based design company before she got her first book deal with Simon & Schuster back in 2011, illustrating Claire Freedman's The Great Snortle Hunt. Since then she has worked on picture books and fiction with publishers including Walker Books, Simon & Schuster, Bloomsbury, Candlewick, and Usborne.

Editorial Reviews

A little boy is invited to a party. The only stipulation is that he must bring a hat, which proves to be a lot more complicated than it sounds. A white tot with a ski-jump swoop of brown hair is going to the 'biggest, bestest, hattiest party of all time' (according to the invite). But alas, he does not own a hat! When even the local haberdashery doesn't have one, the boy turns desperate. He spies a monkey with a hat, but the monkey will not lend it to him. So he must take the monkey (and its hat) to the party with him. But then he runs into another problem. The doorman at the party has a laundry list of other rules—one specifically being that a hat-wearing monkey may not come in unless it has a monocle. Thus starts an absurd chain of events that ends with a penguin wielding a suitcase full of cheese. When the little boy can't take it anymore and shouts across the page that he has indeed brought a hat, a misconception is cleared up and he finally goes to the (multiculturally populated) party. Sharp-eyed readers who aren't distracted by the silly, cumulative requirements may notice the loophole that solves the problem earlier in the story, causing all the more giggles. Mounting exasperation, preposterous rules, and just plain fun make this party a surefire hit. (Picture book. 3-8)” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"A zany addition to storytime and party shelves." —School Library Journal

From the Publisher

10/01/2017
PreS-Gr 1—Philip's new picture book revolves around one impossible rule. If you want to attend Nigel's party, you must bring a hat. But all the hats in the town of West Trilby have been sold out. What ensues is a succession of bent rules that involve more than just the young invitee listed on the invitation. Other invited guests include a tutu-wearing elephant, a penguin carrying a suitcase full of sliced cheese, and a piano-playing badger who wears a monocle. When the boy finally has what he needs to enter the party, he finds out he's at the wrong address, and he's late. VERDICT A zany addition to storytime and party shelves.—Tanya Boudreau, Cold Lake Public Library, Alta.

School Library Journal

★ 2017-05-24
A little boy is invited to a party. The only stipulation is that he must bring a hat, which proves to be a lot more complicated than it sounds. A white tot with a ski-jump swoop of brown hair is going to the "biggest, bestest, hattiest party of all time" (according to the invite). But alas, he does not own a hat! When even the local haberdashery doesn't have one, the boy turns desperate. He spies a monkey with a hat, but the monkey will not lend it to him. So he must take the monkey (and its hat) to the party with him. But then he runs into another problem. The doorman at the party has a laundry list of other rules—one specifically being that a hat-wearing monkey may not come in unless it has a monocle. Thus starts an absurd chain of events that ends with a penguin wielding a suitcase full of cheese. When the little boy can't take it anymore and shouts across the page that he has indeed brought a hat, a misconception is cleared up and he finally goes to the (multiculturally populated) party. Sharp-eyed readers who aren't distracted by the silly, cumulative requirements may notice the loophole that solves the problem earlier in the story, causing all the more giggles. Mounting exasperation, preposterous rules, and just plain fun make this party a surefire hit. (Picture book. 3-8)

Kirkus Reviews