Title: A Hat for Mr Mountain
Author: Soojin Kwak
Illustrator: Soojin Kwak
The Story:
Hat-maker extraordinaire, Nara, is about to face her biggest ever challenge: Mr Mountain needs a hat. What exactly should a hat for a mountain be made of? Nara tries knitting him a woolly hat, but it shrinks the rain. She makes him a vibrant hat of leaves, but some cheeky animals eat it. She tries every material she can think of but nothing works. Nara is ready to give up. Can the animals convince her to have one last try?
Favourite Spread:
Soojin’s illustrations are beautiful and have lovely quirky little details that children will delight in pointing out. Can you spot the mice making a smoothie?!
Every page contains sparks of humour – I loved the lazy cats hanging off Mr Mountain’s woolly hat.
My favourite spread was definitely the final spread where we see the hat Nara has made for Mr Mountain. I couldn’t possibly ruin the surprise for you BUT I can give you a clue…
Soojin’s front end pages are a beautiful scene of Mr Mountain and this very spread is repeated at the end of the book (with the hat of course!).
The Verdict:
This story gives you a nice warm hug like a woolly hat on a winter’s day. The ending is a pure delight and I love Soojin’s illustrations throughout. There is a lovely message about the importance of team work. The animals aren’t always the most helpful to Nara (eating one of her hat-attempts!) but when she needs them most, they are there to support her.
Publisher: Two Hoots, Macmillan
Publication date: 23 January 2020
ISBN: 978-1529012873
I am very grateful to the publisher for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book. This voluntary review contains my honest opinion.
Picture Book Perfect 
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