Tag Archives: hooray for hat book

 

Hooray for Hat! by Brian Won (2014).

 

Ever been grumpy? This book will address that. It’s practically the definition of joy.

 

Each animal character starts out in a grumpy mood, signified by a black scribble above his head. What helps every single one dump the grumps? A hat! From a friend!

 

 

 

 

 

click image(s) to enlarge

 

I love this picture book for its pops of color. For its wild hat(s). For the way it celebrates the true uplift of friendship and kindness. For its perfect design and beautiful type. For the way that original stacked-up-amazing hat appears in a box at elephant’s door without explanation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s not exactly the hat that solves everything (though hats are awesome). It’s the gift part and the giving.

 

Seriously good, right?! HOORAY FOR HAT!

 

 

 Thanks to Brian Won for images!

 

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I was inspired to make a crazy fun whimsical hat to hooray for after reading Hooray For Hat! So with major help from my guy, davishandmade, we did! And we’re giving it away to one reader of This Picture Book Life!

I recently won a fabulous party supply giveaway from Meri Meri through Design Mom, so we invented ways to use those supplies, gathered stuff from around our apartment, and took one quick trip to the 99Cents store.

And …TA DA!

It’s one giant hat. Or three separate hats. With lots of little details hidden around! Come see.

We were inspired by the cup holder sticking out of elephant’s hat and the bird cuckoo-ing from the other side. So we kind of combined them and stuck a straw and bird on ours.

Yup, there’s a bird’s nest hidden inside and you can only see it if you peep through the hole on one side. The nest is raffia and the eggs are felt balls. As this project’s been sitting on my desk for a couple of weeks, I’ve peered in on that nest a number of times to peek at those pretty eggs.

And another hat surprise! Say hello to panda underneath the coned shaped hat! She’s queen of that stripes on stripes cap.

The top cone-shaped party hat is straight from Meri Meri, only we added a feather to the top.

We had so much fun with the little details: ribbon, cut paper, washi tape, and twine.

It’s vaguely child-sized; the top hat opening measures about six inches across.

Comment on this post and tell us who you’d give this hat to wear for a chance to win!

A birthday girl or boy? A classroom helper? Do tell!

I’ll contact the randomly chosen winner by email for your mailing address.

(Enter until Monday, August 11 at midnight; open to North American residents only—sorry about that, far flung international readers!)

And if you want to make your own party hats, Brian Won’s got an activity page on his website with hat instructions; the sky’s the limit with what you can round up for supplies! And you must see Brian’s recent book party where incredible replicas of hats from the book were worn by all!