Andrea BeatyHappy Birthday, Madame Chapeau: A Picture Book

A sweet, vibrantly illustrated, educational-about-hats book. Anything by this duo is going to be wonderful. My son loves the police officer and the horse especially, and the little girl and little mouse hiding in each scene.A shy war widow is a top French hat-maker (milliner?) whose hats are in great demand - but whose life is rather lonely. Once a year she puts on a glorious dress and a special, bright hat with sentimental meaning (I assumed from her dead love), and eats an expensive meal, alone. This year her sentimental hat is stolen by a crow, who dances just out of reach as she chases it Countless men offer their own hats - a baker, policeman, cowboy, etc - which perfectly fit their role (and, often hilariously, shape of their hair). She politely declines, chases her hat, another man offers his hat, she politely declines, etc and finally she goes to dinner, sad. A little girl who's been watching all this (and who looks a lot like Ada Twist) knits her a hat as a birthday present. All the hat-men watch anxiously as the sophisticate looks at the crude bright hand-knitted toque... And then burst into joyous dancing as Mdme Chapeau is touched and thrilled by the gift, and they all eat together and she never eats alone again.It's sweet, and a story about friendship and the people in our lives who care about us, and about opening the door to joy again. The little girl clearly becomes very special to Mme Chapeau, and her pets.I took one star off for the gender dynamics. Not one of her loyal female customers offered their hat, only (strange?) men. (Couldn't the women in her life be friends?) And several men offered their own specific uniform hats, even though they weren't right for her and she was sentimentally attached to the hat that the man could have *easily reached* by turning. (Right there! Just turn and reach a little up!) It felt like they wanted to help, but not in the way she specifically asked for, and each time they gallantly offered her the wrong hat, she had to stop chasing her own treasure to manage their feelings. Which has a painful truth for many women.So overall, a pretty, fun book with glorious hats and dancing and the biggest chocolate cake you've ever seen, and a truly touching series of kind acts to help a grieving widow connect back to the world again.Ps in the photos, the green names for the hats are my doing, based on my best guesses from internet research, not the illustration. I didn't want to be caught flat-footed by my kid asking what a derby hat is, then got carried away.

We’ve got a birthday in our house today, so we busted out all of our favorite birthday books this week. Today’s review, though it features a birthday book, is of a favorite book in our house year-round, birthday day or not— Happy Birthday, Madame Chapeau written by Andrea Beaty and illustrated by David Roberts. (Yes, they are the duo responsible for the wonderful Rosie Revere, Iggy Peck, and Ada Twist!).⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀I picked this book up a few years ago at our library’s used book sale based solely on the fact that we love Beaty’s and Roberts’s other books so much, and Happy Birthday, Madame Chapeau is just as well-liked in our house as their other books… if not even more popular! Based on the styles and works of a real-life fashion editor and a milliner (which I learned about thanks to the kindly-included Artist’s Note at the beginning), we see the “world’s finest hatmaker” going about her business on her birthday, which she always celebrates by herself at her favorite restaurant. This time, however, her hat is taken by a crow on her way to dinner, and what happens next is a wonderful story of the kindness and generosity of others.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀As with her more well-known books, Beaty nails rhyme and rhythm on every page, making this book a delight to read aloud. Roberts’s colorful and multicultural illustrations bring life to the streets of Paris and emotion and charm to each character we meet. Adults will also find tiny bits of humor throughout, such as the name of Madame Chapeau’s favorite restaurant (Chez Snooty-Patoot!).⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Recommended for ages 4-8, though my now 3-year-old has been enjoying it since she was about 2! This has been a go-to birthday gift in our house lately.

6 year old is practicing reading with rhymes, but the images steal the show.

I adore all of Beaty’s books and the illustrations as well. We read this regularly and both my 2 and 7 year olds love it!

This is both my and my 2 year old's favorite book to read. The rhyming is so good and clever and I could live in David Robert's art. Buy this and all 3 of their books in the Questioneer series as well: Iggy Peck Architect, Rosie Revere Engineer, and Ada Twist Scientist!

Love the story, the rhyme, all the little details we continue to find each time we read this book!

Great book and story (as usual from this author) but I was a little disappointed that some of the pages int he book were not attached. I know the book was used, but I felt like this was kind of crucial and I wouldn't have bought this copy had I know. This is a book for my young daughter and having the pages falling out doesn't help when we're teaching her about respecting books.

My 5 year old granddaughter loves this book and has basically memorized it. Cute story, fun rhyming writing, and well illustrated. I highly recommend this author for young girls. I have bought most of her books for my three granddaughters.

What a beautiful simple story stunningly illustrated, Such a nice story to share with children the rhyme makes the pace easy and light

Lovely story, beautifully illustrated, my little one loves it

My 5 year old grand-daughter loves this book when she comes to stay. Beautifully written and illustrated.Happy ending for Madame Chapeau.

My daughter loves this collection of books. A nice simple story that subconsciously plants a message

I absolutely love the books by this author. The stories flow of the tongue and are a joy to read. The illustrations are beautiful too.