A magical top-hat, flying off the head of the rich man who owns it, finds its way to penniless veteran Benito Badoglio, and transforms his life. Useful in any sort of crisis - saving a tourist from a falling flowerpot, capturing an escaped rare bird, flushing a band of cutthroats out of their lair - the hat brings Badoglio good luck, introducing him to his future wife, the Contessa Aspi d'Istra. As Badoglio and the Contessa head to the honeymoon, the hat once again is blown away, landing... who can say?

Unlike so many of French author/artist Tomi Ungerer's other picture-books, which were first published in German in Switzerland, The Hat was originally published in English, in New York City. It's an entertaining original fairy-tale, in which a down-on-his-luck hero is aided by a magical object. I appreciated the ending, as I think it will lead young readers and listeners to continue the story on their own, as they imagine where else the hat will travel, and with whom it will settle. The artwork, as is to be expected in a Tomi Ungerer book, is immensely engaging, communicating the humor of the story perfectly. Recommended to Tomi Ungerer fans, and to anyone looking for fairy-tale-style children's stories. ( )

This is the story of a hat which flies off a rich man's head, who happens to be going on his honeymoon. The hat flies to a poor veteran.The hat brings the veteran luck and he happens to save a rich woman's life and marries her. The hat flies off his head when he is going on his honeymoon. ( )

A magical top-hat flies into the life of a down-and-out former soldier and brings him luck and happiness before flying away again.

Tomi Ungerer has a magic all his own, a magic of possibilities, absurdities and antics that always lead somewhere interesting. The most wonderful thing about this story in particular is that the reader is never condescended to with any sort of explanation of how or why the hat is magic- it just is.

You could assume from the brief description that this story is akin to Frosty The Snowman. But the story of Frosty is a childish story of transient friendship; and The Hat is a story about luck, generosity to others, and the continued hope of better things to come.

Bardolo, the one-legged, soldier protagonist, acquits himself well by never becoming arrogant or prideful, and the top-hat has a definite personality of its own.

A favorite of mine as a child and now a favorite of my son, I'm planning on this book seeing my grandchildren. ( )