I know this isn't everyone's favorite Dr. Seuss book. But it's my sister's favorite. When she was five, she had a 500 hats party and all the kids wore party hats stacked up 5 at a time- or more. My daughter is 5 and she is also drawn to this story. By the way, she hates the other Bartholomew Cubbins story, the one about that icky oobleck.

I'm not going to reiterate the whole plot, but basically Bartholomew is the only person in the street with his hat still on when the king rides by in his coach. The king, being pretty much a jerk, which is still true in the oobleck story, is irked by Bartholomew's hat. He orders Bartholomew to take off his hat, and then when a new hat appears each time on the boys head, orders him up to the castle to figure out mystery. Other writers have said this is a bad message for children, to get into a stranger's car, and that Bartholomew should have run away, and about 50 other things that are problematic in the story. Well, it's also a bad idea to eat gingerbread from a stranger's house, or to let a cat with a tophat in when one's mother is out. If storybook characters all made the right decisions, there would be no story.

Instead of this book being a lesson to children about how to behave, if it is a lesson at all it is to grownups about how children sometime exhibit mysterious characteristics (although usually not in the form of hats re-appearing on their heads). Sometimes the hats have to run their course.

I think the real appeal of the book is numbers. Kids who are the right age for Bartholomew Cubbins (at least five, probably a little older), have been counting up to 100 or have been trying. Bartholomew and the King, and his entire court, are counting up to 500 over the course of this story. Quite a lot of math with large numbers is done to reach this figure, and this is pure magic for kindergarteners. Why the last 50 hats become fancier and fancier, I don't know, but it gives Dr. Seuss a way to end the story without poor Bartholomew getting his head chopped off.

By the way, this plot twist is very controversial. The King has a nephew, the snotty, lace-collared Grand Duke Wilfred (who reminds me intensely of Cousin Kevin from the Doors' musical Tommy). Wilfred suggests chopping off Bartholomew's head to remove his hat and then pushing him off the tower. The King says that this is a bad idea, but guesses it has to be done (I'm telling you, the King is a moron). Another lesson to grownups- sometimes we let kids talk us into things we know are bad ideas!

If we're looking for lessons, I think there's a good one here- Kings can be bad and rules can be wrong, or wrongly applied. There are probably a dozen other subtle themes here, but I'm not getting paid by the word to write this! Believe it or not, this story paves the way to discussing the American Revolution and the principles of good government- subjects only a year or two away for your 5 year old.

I like to include warnings about violence, scary scenes and other objectionable topics in reviews about books for kids. The talk of offing Bartholomew is a little scary. The executioner and his huge axe are very scary, but the picture on the next page shows him to be quite friendly (he refuses to chop off the head of someone wearing a hat, so that the hat that Bartholomew was trying to get rid of is now the thing that saves him). Some people don't like any mention of occult subjects. There's a spooky scene with the king's 7 magicians and their cats who yowl, howl, rhyme mysterious words and call Bartholomew a demon. They have a greater role in the oobleck book, and they are even darker and grimmer there. Here they prove ultimately silly, but it's still a scene that can be bothersome.

If you share this book with your child, I would end by asking him or her what the characters should have done, and how it would have affected the story, and what would happen if the magic items in fairy tales (the seven league boots, the dancing shoes, the everful pots) started malfunctioning. I think you'll find a better lesson from this discussion than you could ever hope to find in a book.

Recommended: Yes