The Pink Hat

October 9, 2017
Publishing ahead of the one-year anniversary of the Women’s March, this picture book focuses on one of the most recognizable images from the demonstrations: the pink knit hat. Australian illustrator Joyner (Bear Make Den) imagines a backstory of sorts for one such hat: an older woman knits it, snaps a selfie with it, then uses it to warm her feet. The hat doesn’t remain with her for long. “It was a pink hat. A cozy pink hat. That is until...,” Joyner writes, as a cat grabs the hat and plays with it. From there, the hat makes its way to a baby, a dog, and a girl, who uses it as a boxing glove, artist’s satchel, and more before joining an enormous crowd of pink-hatted marchers, whose placards read, “Women’s rights are human rights” and “The future is feminist.” Joyner’s airy, pink-accented drawings are chic, and he wisely keeps the story’s focus on women and girls. But on the whole it reads like a lost-object tale with only a tenuous connection to the power of protest, in general, or what inspired these demonstrations in particular. Ages 4–8. Agent: Kirsten Hall, Catbird Agency.

February 1, 2018

PreS-Gr 1-Simple grayscale illustrations and short sentences pop with pink as the story of a pink hat is told. Readers follow the knitted hat from its creation to a series of adventures including a cat, a tree, a small child, a dog, and a little girl, who wears her pink hat to a march where everyone else wears a pink hat, too. The text does not mention the 2017 Women's March per se, but a short paragraph in the back matter does. Interestingly, the author-illustrator is an Australian man. The story reads almost like a Dr. Seuss story, with simple repeating phrases, and does not comment on the political situation or get specific about what the pink hat represents, though the signs at the protest read "The Future is Feminist" and "Women's Rights are Human Rights." The cartoon art and the text stay very light. VERDICT A gentle, upbeat story of a hat that happens to represent much more than meets the eye.-Lisa Nowlain, Nevada County Community Library, CA

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2017
Pink hats emerged as a cultural phenomenon in early 2017, as the Women's March on Washington and in locations nationwide drew widespread attention.This simple, fictional treatment of one pink hat shows its transformation from a cap knitted by a woman of a certain age (an earlier-wave feminist?) to a cat's toy to a snug wrapper for an infant to a dog's plaything. Eventually, its use reverts to a hat, found, washed, and worn by a young black-haired girl of indeterminate ethnicity. She ultimately wears it in a march along with dozens of other pink-hatted girls and women (and a few boys and men), toting signs reading "Girl Power," "The Future Is Feminist," and other familiar slogans from that day. Black-and-white line drawings with a retro look are punctuated by the bright fuchsia hat; this sole pop of color on each page draws focus to the inanimate starring "character." There is no mention of the actual origin of the hat's significance as a reminder of what one presidential candidate bragged about grabbing during the 2016 campaign. The hat's role as a rallying symbol for women's and human rights is underplayed except for the closing spread. A very brief note cites the January 2017 marches but makes no explicit connection to the pink hat.This pink hat's tale won't inform young feminists in great detail, but its light take on a social movement could spark conversation. (Picture book. 3-6)

COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 15, 2017
Preschool-G A pink hat and a placard? Adultsand even some childrenwill know exactly where this picture book is marching. Joyner fashions a simple tale about a pink knit hat that makes its way through a neighborhood, whether absconded by a playful cat, dropped by a baby, or snatched by a dog. The spare, thick-lined illustrations have an ink-and-watercolor appearance, where pink is the only color in the otherwise black-and-white scenes. This keeps young readers focused on the bright hat's movement through the city, with pink streaks charting its course, until it ends up in the possession of a young girl. She takes the hat home and, after a wash, wears it through a montage of activities, which end with her, homemade sign under arm, joining a pink-capped throng in the streets. The final spread zooms in on the diverse, smiling crowd, proudly holding signs declaring, The Future Is Feminist, Hear Our Voice, and Girl Power. A gentle conversation starter for discussions on human rights and peaceful protest, with an appended note on the 2017 Women's March.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2018
An elderly knitter, a cat, a baby, and a dog each find pleasure in a pink hat before it reaches a girl who wears it to what looks like the 2017 Women's March (the event is mentioned only in an endnote), where "everyone else wore one, too!" Naturally, readers needn't be politically aware to enjoy following the pink hat's misadventures across otherwise black-and-white pages.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)