The King's Hats - by Sheila May Bird (Hardcover)

About the Book

A picture book about the reign of King Charles III, with gently rhyming text for children to explore all the roles their king might have to taken on through the hats he will have to wear.

Book Synopsis

A perfect picture book to celebrate the Coronation and beyond.King Charles the III is now King of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth and he is finding his new crown just a little heavy to manage. But his good friend Tom the gardener is on hand to show him that kings must wear all sorts of hats and that he must be brave and allow himself to be the king he was born to be.Sheila May Bird's joyful rhyming text will delight little ones as they explore all the roles their king might have to take during his reign and gently explores themes of being brave and finding courage.
Accompanied by Mark Beech's glorious and hilariously warm illustrations with a caricature-style that brings the stars of the story to life.
'Even the most ardent republican will find something to make them smile.' The Bookseller

Review Quotes

"Oh dear, oh dear! Heavy lies the royal crown on King Charles III's head. Worried lest the royal diadem not look as right on him as on his late lamented mum, the kingster follows his wife's advice and heads for his "Happy Place." That would be the royal garden, because "he could potter there for hours / with honey bees and birds and trees, / and butterflies and flowers." There he meets Tom, the White-presenting royal gardener, who reminds him that he has many hats to wear--from a shower cap in the bath to a hard hat while joining workers at a construction site, from a rain hat when meeting farmers to a hairnet when touring a bakery--and so the crown is just one more, to be sported on public occasions: "And you will smile and wave. / Your crown is very heavy, / But remember... / ...kings are brave." Though the sight of the famously stiff new monarch cavorting wildly with children at a party and gamboling about the garden, kilt flapping in the breeze may push an incredulous chortle past the stiffest upper lip, Beech does get the prominent royal nose and ears just right in his scribbly cartoon pictures. Crowd scenes offer racially diverse groups of onlookers, and a statue of Queen Victoria, scowling at the pigeon on her head, adds a suitably irreverent note to the close. A doff of the cap to the septuagenarian new monarch, more affectionate than satirical. "--Kirkus Reviews