MY RED HAT

What possibilities does a red hat hold?

An elder—a grandparent, perhaps, clad in a sweater, pajama bottoms, and slippers—sits in a light blue comfy chair, doting on the child upon their lap. Both present White. “I give you my hat,” says the elder, and with this gift of a floppy-brimmed red homburg, the elder promises much. “It will keep you warm and dry” as both elder and child with hat are depicted gardening out in the torrential rain, and it will also “help keep you cool” as the same scene switches to a very sunny day. The red hat, it seems, can be useful in numerous moments, from standing out in a crowd to even keeping secrets and fears tucked away. Throughout these life-affirming moments, some more dreamlike than others, Stubbs’ sublime, exuberantly lined illustrations bounce from scenario to scenario with a consistent sense of magical optimism, carried in each red burst and pale swoop of gray-blue. At each picture’s center sit the elder and the child, an intergenerational dialogue that asks for the warmth of ambitious imagination and its potential in life. Alone with the hat on their head, the child travels to places “way down deep” and “way up high” before returning home, reunited with the elder whose arms guarantee an embrace. “This hat is for you,” concludes the elder’s promise, a rousing appeal carried by the weight of dreams. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11.4-by-17.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 38.9% of actual size.)

Like a gentle prod to the heart.