The Pink Hat

Publishing ahead of the one-year anniversary of the Women's March, this picture book focuses on one of the most recognizable images from the demonstrations: the pink knit hat. Australian illustrator Joyner (Bear Make Den) imagines a backstory of sorts for one such hat: an older woman knits it, snaps a selfie with it, then uses it to warm her feet. The hat doesn't remain with her for long. "It was a pink hat. A cozy pink hat. That is until...," Joyner writes, as a cat grabs the hat and plays with it. From there, the hat makes its way to a baby, a dog, and a girl, who uses it as a boxing glove, artist's satchel, and more before joining an enormous crowd of pink-hatted marchers, whose placards read, "Women's rights are human rights" and "The future is feminist." Joyner's airy, pink-accented drawings are chic, and he wisely keeps the story's focus on women and girls. But on the whole it reads like a lost-object tale with only a tenuous connection to the power of protest, in general, or what inspired these demonstrations in particular. Ages 4-8. Agent: Kirsten Hall, Catbird Agency. (Dec.)

PreS-Gr 1--Simple grayscale illustrations and short sentences pop with pink as the story of a pink hat is told. Readers follow the knitted hat from its creation to a series of adventures including a cat, a tree, a small child, a dog, and a little girl, who wears her pink hat to a march where everyone else wears a pink hat, too. The text does not mention the 2017 Women's March per se, but a short paragraph in the back matter does. Interestingly, the author-illustrator is an Australian man. The story reads almost like a Dr. Seuss story, with simple repeating phrases, and does not comment on the political situation or get specific about what the pink hat represents, though the signs at the protest read "The Future is Feminist" and "Women's Rights are Human Rights." The cartoon art and the text stay very light. VERDICT A gentle, upbeat story of a hat that happens to represent much more than meets the eye.--Lisa Nowlain, Nevada County Community Library, CA