Keith the Cat with the Magic Hat – Sue Hendra

Only in a children’s book would a discarded ice cream cone become a magic hat, but that’s exactly what happens in Keith the Cat with the Magic Hat. Only, as us adult have all probably worked out, wearing an ice cream cone on your head doesn’t actually give you magical powers at all. There are other forces at play here and that’s exactly what the delightful illustrations show you. Little Miss C is always thrilled to point out the army of ants that are carrying away the chocolate flake, rather than it moving by magic as the cats in the story think it does.

I really like this extra level of detail in the pictures that accompany this story and I think it is great for getting children to speak up and point out what is really happening when the “magic” happens. Whist the story itself is relatively simple and straightforward explaining the magic does give it that extra, magic (please excuse the pun), dimension. The final trick in the story is performed by a swarm of bees that are trying to eat the ice cream. These bees feature in nearly all the pictures and are great for getting a little one to spot and count as you read the book.

As with The Yoga Ogre, Little Miss C is regularly asking for “Keith’s Magic Hat” at bedtime and to me that is a sign of a great children’s book – something that kids want to read over and over again.

Disclaimer: I was sent a review copy of Keith the Cat with the Magic Hat by publishers Simon and Schuster.