The deadpan of the animals, the grasses and rocks near each of them on a tan page, all add up to the perfect background for this surprising story. The illustrations are subtle, clever and in their understated way, hilarious. And to find out what happens next, you will just have to read this humdinger of a picture book. The bear continues past him though and on to several more animals until suddenly he realizes that he HAS seen his hat! He rushes back past all of the animals until he reaches the rabbit. The only exception is the rabbit who is wearing a distinctive bright red pointy hat and seems to be protesting too much. He asks one animal after the next about his hat and no one has seen it. The bear, who narrates the book in first person, is searching for his hat. It happily breaks all picture book rules by using a very muted palette with punches of color, not having much action at all, and ending with a dark twist. I don’t think I can express how much I love this picture book.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |