A Hat for Mr Mountain

By Author / Illustrator

Soojin Kwak

Genre

Personal Growth

Age range(s)

Publisher

Pan Macmillan

ISBN

9781529012873

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

23-01-2020

Synopsis

A sweet and funny picture book about kindness, creativity and how to make a hat for a mountain.

Nara loves to make hats of all shapes and sizes for the animals who visit her workshop in the forest. Then one day she receives a letter from Mr Mountain: he wants a hat, too. Nara is up for the challenge, and knits him an enormous woolly hat . . . which is perfect until it shrinks in the rain. The leaf hat is eaten, the stick hat burns to the ground. What other material can she try? The exploration of different materials and their properties makes A Hat for Mr Mountain the perfect picture book for primary STEM lessons.

This warm and humorous story about never giving up, and the importance of working together to help a friend is illustrated in quirky and exquisite detail. Look out for the mice making a smoothie! A masterful debut from the winner of second prize in the Macmillan Prize for Illustration 2018.

Reviews

Nara loves to make hats for all the animals in the forest. One day, a new request comes, in the form of a letter. Mr Mountain would like a hat! Accepting the challenge, Nara sets to work but is knocked back several times when things go wrong. After much perseverance, Nara eventually gives up, but it's not long before the help of her friends perks her up and she's back to work.

This is a delightful story with engaging, detailed illustrations. Children will quickly become engaged with the story, Nara and the animals and be able to relate to the values of kindness, resilience, collaboration, creativity and reflectiveness.

This book provides the perfect opportunity to introduce and explore the learning of; scientific enquiry, materials, friendship, design technology, mathematical shape, size and comparison, letter writing and so much more.

Picture book / Ages 5+ / Reviewed by Maria Faithorn, teacher