Frank's Red Hat is a hilarious tale of creativity--first scorned, then redeemed--as one inventive penguin tries to get his fellow seabirds to appreciate the finer qualities of his functional, fashionable way to keep warm.
Frank is known within the penguin community for "doing things differently" and being "full of ideas." Unfortunately, most of his ideas are not great. The penguins are understandably nervous when, one day, Frank wears a red hat. Not only had the seabirds never seen a hat before but they had never seen anything red. When Neville dons the hat, a killer whale leaps out of the ocean and eats the penguin. The other penguins don't believe Frank's assurances that the hat had nothing to do with Neville's tragic death. Frank tries to get the penguins to appreciate his creation by making several differently colored hats, but the wary seabirds don't trust him. So, Frank tries to make one final, perfect hat: "The evil hat will end us all!" the terrified penguins yell. Frank is crushed until... a non-penguin someone asks for his masterpiece!
Sean E Avery (Happy as a Hog Out of Mud) uses jaunty text that is active, direct, and suitably sly. His characters feature large, round eyes with expressive eyebrow lines, and his world is rendered almost entirely in black, white, and grays, which allows the colorful hats to stand out. The clever, digitally collaged illustrations add plenty of humor and depth to the story, and readers are advised to pay attention: sight gags amplify the fun and loose ends are often tied up in the art. Frank's Red Hat should serve as both a boisterous read-aloud and an excellent choice to linger with after story time. --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author