The Haberdashery of Kid Lit
The clothes make the man? Nah . . . how about the hats make the children's book characters.
Where would some of our favorite literary kiddos be if not for their fabulous headwear? And what better time to celebrate them than National Hat Day? Check out a few of our favorites below.
Anne of Green Gables
Anne’s round straw hat—with or without ribbon—on top of that unmistakable red hair is quintessential element of the 1908 Canadian classic about the bold, creative, one-of-a-kind girl in Avonlea.
Paddington
The floppy red hat on the ursine protagonist of the 1958 classic—and its subsequent, many-faceted franchise—saw him from Peru the whole way through to London. It was even called out in Vogue.
The Man in the Yellow Hat from Curious George
Arguably the worst-ever caretaker of a small child/monkey/dependent creature, the Man in the Yellow Hat is remarkable mostly for his terrible parenting and his inexplicably prominent hat. The rest of his outfit is all yellow, too, but he’s still the Man with the Yellow Hat—not the Man with the Yellow Pants, or the Man with the Yellow Shirt, or even the Man with the Yellow Tie. He’s the man with the Yellow Hat.
Image via gallerynucleus.com.
The bear from I Want My Hat Back
Without that red triangular cap, there would be no plot in Jon Klassen’s spare and funny picture book. Headwear also features prominently in its sequels, This Is Not My Hat and We Found a Hat.
Image via NPR.
Madeline
The round yellow hats on those 12 little girls in two straight lines are simply unforgettable. (Note: There is a book called Madeline and the Bad Hat, but it’s about a naughty neighbor and not an actual hat.)
Hooray for Hat!
Can a festive hat turn around a bad mood? Elephant, zebra and friends find out in Brian Won's colorful and energetic picture book featuring a variety of hats on parade.
Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter in the 2010 film adaptation. Image via IMPAwards.
The Hatter from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Inspired by the Victorian phrase “mad as a hatter,” Lewis Carroll never actually called this whimsical haberdasher “the Mad Hatter.” But he’s characterized by an out-of-control top hat that reads, "In this style 10/6." (Meaning the price of his hat: 10 shillings and sixpence.)
Image via Ugly Volvo.
Go Dog Go
Hats are so essential to this easy reader that the plot is punctuated by a recurring scene of one dog asking another about, you guessed it, their hat.
The Ingalls girls from Big House in the Little Woods (and the rest of the series)
Their headwear inspires the timeless question: Are bonnets hats? We say yes.
Image via rockmyroll.com.
Max from Where the Wild Things Are
You can’t roar your terrible roar or gnash your terrible teeth like Max without a crown, to show that you’re the king of all the wild things. (Do crowns count as hats? Again, we say yes.)
The Snowy Day
Yet another entry in the we-know-it's-not-technically-a-hat category is Peter's snowsuit hood in Ezra Jack Keat's memorable (and most checked out) tale The Snowy Day. The jaunty tip of that little red hood is indelible.
Caps for Sale
The literal monkey business going on in this kidlit classic wouldn’t be possible without the plethora of caps—red, turquoise, and speckled black and white—that the peddler is trying to sell.
The Cat in the Hat
That hat is so big
And so striped and so tall,
It is the best hat!
The best hat of all!
What are your favorite hats in kidlit? Let us know in the comments!
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