Nothing less than utterly delightful! "Happy Birthday, Madame Chapeau" is deliciously drawn, full of charming details and artwork that is so pleasing to look at. I love the little details, like the mouse wearing a hat made from a thimble, and the recurring presence of the young knitting girl who shows up throughout the book. I don't always love children's books that have a really firmly set rhyme scheme but this one is cutely clever and I think kids will have a blast reading it. Finally, it was really refreshing to see that the ending is more female friendship based, with girls sharing their passions with each other, and not a story that is solved by a romance. Loved it! ( )

This book has an exciting and upbeat storyline that allowed me to really get involved with the text and the story it was telling. I never got bored or disinterested as the story is told in rhyme, such as – “just one night a year-on her birthday, no less-the lady unpacked her most elegant dress….” The writing flows and is extremely descriptive, all to a constant rhythmic beat; as if it is being sung rather than read as a regular piece of text or story. The plot follows this framework and it really works for the author as it entices the reader to read more and engage with the text. The main message of “Happy Birthday Madame Chapeau” is that even hard-working and caring people who seem to have it all may have the opposite, and it is important to support them as they have done so for you. Madame Chapeau created hats for all those in need of one, and when she in turn desired one for her birthday, all the people she helped offered her theirs. Kindness is a theme that the author echoes throughout the book as well as friendship, because people that we overlook and take for granted suffer as a result – they become lonely just like Madame Chapeau did. This message, told in rhyme and to a beat, is an important one for all young readers to hear, which is why I loved reading this story. ( )

Love this rhyming tale from the creators of Rosie Revere, Engineer. Creative but lonely hatmaker Madame Chapeau puts on her own best birthday bonnet and walks to her birthday dinner, but a crow flies down and steals it right off her head. Now what?

People kindly offer her their own hats, but she can't take a baker's toque or a policeman's cap. At last, a little girl knits a hat especially for Madame Chapeau, and though it is "rather odd," it is "knitted with love and your best birthday wish" and she welcomes the gift and invites everyone to join in her birthday celebration.

I know we've read this before but I must have missed entering it into LT.

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Re-read March 2021 ( )

Enjoyed the illustrations and the rhyme. And who doesn't like to say Chapeau!! ( )

A lonely hat maker matches her customers to the perfect hat but lacks her own perfect match in life. ( )