I Love My Hat

PreS-Gr 1—As Farmer Brown drives his tractor to town, he encounters a bevy of critters that he compliments on their sartorial choices. The calico cat has a nice hat, the nanny goat a nice coat, the big white ox has nice sox, the big brown bear nice underwear, etc. Each critter then sings a few lines about how they love their article of clothing and joins Farmer Brown as he continues down the road. Once in town they sing to Farmer Brown, "Farmer Brown, you need new clothes! Dress yourself up from your nose to your toes!" And so he does, reappearing to sing about his new clothes as the animals cavort around him. Florian's rhyming, repeitive text is great for reading aloud, and the song lyrics are in red to make it easy to sing along in the appropriate places. Keiser's illustrations are delighful. They have the perfect amount of details without being fussy, and her color palette is soft and muted. This is a joyous, song-filled story about feeling good about your choices. It has plenty of child appeal and is super fun to read aloud.—Catherine Callegari, Gay-Kimball Library, Troy, NH