You Must Bring a Hat
From You Must Bring a Hat by Simon Philip and Kate Hindley (Simon & Schuster 2016) | Illustration © 2016 by Kate Hindley
I enjoy going to the theatre (or at least I used to).I’m partial to a musical. (Hairspray and Singin’ in the Rain were great!) Still, perhaps my favourite genre is comedy farce. (The Importance of Being Earnest and One Man, Two Guvnors stand out in my memory.)
I don’t think it’s disparaging to call my Story Worth Sharing this week a farce. After all, it’s full of patently ridiculous acts leading to ludicrously improbable situations! And like the best farce, it makes your brain tick and whirr (which is all part of the fun)! So keep up, everyone! It’s You Must Bring a Hat by Simon Philip and Kate Hindley (Simon & Schuster 2016).
The title page illustration shows a (hatted) boy posting an invite.The invitation (delivered by a toucan postman) is very specific.
You must bring a hat.
But the recipient of the invite - our narrator (a small boy) - doesn’t own a hat.
And the local hat shop has sold out.
In fact, the only hat to be found belongs to a monkey. But the monkey’s wearing it - and he won’t give it up!
So the boy is ‘left with no choice’ - he must take the hat-wearing monkey along to Nigel’s party! (The invitation clearly states, after all, that ‘you may bring as many extra guests as you wish’.)
‘At least I had a hat. Even if it was still attached to a monkey.’
That line is typical of the humour, which is dry and deadpan. But when the boy, the monkey and his hat arrive at the venue, they find the security to be ‘pretty tight.’
And this is where the farce begins.
“Invitation, please,” said the doorman.
Apparently there were other rules too.
“Sorry Sir, but we’re under strict instructions not to let in any hat-wearing monkeys… unless they are also wearing a monocle.”
The set up is simple and silly, and brilliantly executed! Only the most astute and eagle-eyed reader will twig what’s happening…
Luckily, the boy and the monkey bump into a monocled badger named Geoff. “‘He was just the sort of badger we required’,” notes the boy.
Unfortunately, the doorman is ‘under strict instructions not to let in any hat-and-monocled-wearing monkeys if they are accompanied by a badger called Geoff… unless Geoff can play the piano.’
“Can you play the piano?” I asked.
“Don’t insult me. I’m a Badger! Of course I can.”
From You Must Bring a Hat by Simon Philip and Kate Hindley (Simon & Schuster 2016) | Illustration © 2016 by Kate Hindley
Cue the fortuitous passing by of Terance T. Trump’s Professional Piano Removal van. Geoff wasn’t lying - he can play the piano (and he is good!).
Problem solved.
Except the doorman hasn’t finished. His growing list of rules become more uncompromising and ridiculous (while the trail of last-minute guests becomes longer and longer).
You can see the tension mounting as the characters, now eager to enter the party, become increasingly exasperated.
Finally, our boy snaps!
I enjoy stories where the characters totally lose it and have a meltdown.It reflects real life and makes a character feel well-rounded and believable (and easily relatable to a small kid!). I’ve had the pleasure of illustrating raging characters a few times (notably Archie the rhino in NO!) - and they’re fun to draw! (Right now, I’m working on the sketches for a picture book that features an angry kitten…)
Character development sketch © 2021 by Tim Warnes
Hindley does a great job depicting the boy’s anger and frustration. His outburst is amplified by the text, which blasts out across the page as if shouted through a megaphone.
“LOOK, THESE ARE THE SILLIEST RULES I’VE EVER HEARD,” yells the red-faced boy. he waves his invite aloft, shouting so loudly that the doorman is knocked off his feet…
From You Must Bring a Hat by Simon Philip and Kate Hindley (Simon & Schuster 2016) | Illustration © 2016 by Kate Hindley
“NIGEL CLEARLY STATED ON HIS INVITATION THAT I COULD BRING ANYONE I WANTED SO LONG AS I BROUGHT A HAT, AND I BROUGHT A MONKEY IN A HAT SO TECHNICALLY I BROUGHT A HAT AND…”
And here’s the moment of realisation.
The moment of truth.
They’re at the wrong house!
They’ve been trying to gain entry to number 34. Number 32 - Nigel’s party - is next door!
‘The surprise ending,’ notes LoveReading4Kids, ‘will send everyone back to the beginning to check for details that might have been missed.’
It’s a delicious moment when the penny drops and the truth of the situation comes into focus. The set-up was so simple. And the following chain of events (which become increasingly silly and complicated) is all the better for it.
I mean, who doesn’t enjoy the absurdity of a penguin carrying a suitcase full of cheese?
Even if it is unsliced.
Unfortunately, You Must Bring a Hat was released long after my boys had outgrown a picture book at bedtime.But we’d have loved the silliness of it and scrutinising Hindley’s delightfully detailed illustrations.
Part of the book’s success is down to it being a true collaboration between the writer and illustrator. They are both telling the story. On his website, the writer Philip explains how any instructions he might give illustrators ‘are merely suggestions, and are rarely prescriptive.’
“I trust that an illustrator will have far better ideas for what to do with a spread than I will, and I’m happy to leave them to it. They’re the experts, after all, and tell the story in their own right.”
It was Hindley, for example, who came up with the ballerina bunnies. Philip acknowledges that the book is “far funnier than it would have been without her comic touches and beautiful characters.”
From You Must Bring a Hat by Simon Philip and Kate Hindley (Simon & Schuster 2016) | Illustration © 2016 by Kate Hindley
Hindley’s attention to detail - like the snail with a top hat and the worm with a scarf - is fantastic! You certainly get your money’s worth your money’s worth in her colourful scenes, which have the business - and craziness - of Richard Scarry’s work.
Unsurprisingly, Hindley acknowledges Scary as a subconscious influence: ‘I grew up with Scarry, and I think his style is very ingrained in my brain, something that’s always there.’
In summary then - if you’re looking for some fun, light entertainment, grab yourself a copy of You Must Bring a Hat. I guess if you insisted on finding a moral or lesson, it would be to check the address carefully. Or you could argue that it presents the virtue of helping strangers out. On the other hand, maybe we should all relax a little and enjoy it at face value.
I agree with Kids Book Review: ‘Education, morals and messages are important parts of children’s literature’. But as they note, it’s also ‘important for kids (and adults) to enjoy books that are just there to entertain. This is one of them’.
From You Must Bring a Hat by Simon Philip and Kate Hindley (Simon & Schuster 2016) | Illustration © 2016 by Kate Hindley
STORIES WORTH SHARING: You Must Bring a Hat by Simon Philip and Kate HindleyGood to Read because:
It’s funny - and there’s something special about bonding with your kid over a shared joke!
It encourages visual literacy - go back and discover from the illustrations how the mistake is made
Detailed images encourage independent reading of the visual story.
The ridiculous situations will spark creative conversations - what other crazy rules can you come up with?
It will expand your child’s vocabulary with fun words like monocle, shindig and negotiate.
Parents - have fun with a whole range of character voices!
Good to Read
Picture Books about Birthday Parties
Kipper’s Birthday by Mick Inkpen
You Must Bring a Hat by Simon Philip and Kate Hindley
Happy Birthday, Dotty by Tim Warnes
I Am Invited To a Party - An Elephant & Piggie book by Mo Willems
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‘Mounting exasperation, preposterous rules, and just plain fun make this party a surefire hit.’
- Kirkus Reviews
‘bright and busy and jam-packed full of humour.’
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