This text-heavy, millinery-happy return engagement from the collaborators of The Quiltmaker's Gift
is to picture books what Carmen Miranda was to headdress—over the top. On the day of the Queen's visit, the prim and proper townsfolk of Littleton are appalled when Miss Hunnicutt appears in her new hat from Paris, brimming with chicken feathers: "And the feathers were still stuck to the chicken who was happily clucking away on Miss Hunnicutt's head." The normally docile Miss Hunnicutt digs in her heels when confronted by her outraged neighbors. "I'm pretty sure I have the right to wear what I like. And I won't wear a rhinoceros and I won't wear a poodle. But I'd like to wear a chicken, if you don't mind, and wear it on my head." The ensuing uproar is both messy (the bakery and soda trucks collide) and embarrassing (the mayor delivers a stern lecture), but Miss Hunnicutt holds her ground, and her pluck is vindicated when the Queen turns out to be a kindred spirit in the haberdashery department. For all the outrageousness of the set-up, the message about the value of tolerance, diversity and standing up for oneself still seems a bit ponderous. The watercolor illustrations, while displaying a perky palette and often amusing touches, are at the same time cluttered and chaotic. Endpapers feature a flurry of fanciful chapeaux (including the rhino and poodle), while the book jacket reverses to what is billed as a "panoramic poster" of Miss Hunnicutt's hometown, replete with animals and figures for readers to locate. Ages 4-8. (Mar.)
