The Many Hats of Mr. Minches

Barbara Robertson is the author of Wilfrid Laurier: The Great
Conciliator and co-author of The Well-Filled Cupboard.

This is a happy book in which the young heroine, Dotty Rupert, “a
serious, shy and sensible girl,” gets her wish to be “brave and wild
and bold.” It is the Minches, a scatterbrained and perhaps magical
pair, with any number of hats and practically nothing in their top
storeys, who help Dotty realize her dream. The illustrations by Kathryn
Naylor are very joyous and spirited, and, if less beautiful than those
she did for The Cat Park last year, they are entirely appropriate for
this particular book.

And yet, for all its charm and high spirits, there is something lacking
in The Many Hats of Mr. Minches. The role of the hats is rather
mysterious. On one occasion a particular hat seems to help Dotty achieve
an act of heroism, but the hats do not seem ever to have this effect on
the Minches, nor on Dotty on other occasions. They seem more an
accessory for dressing up and acting out. Maybe the hats are there to
suggest that a spoonful of illusion makes real life more interesting.
(Certainly, though, they have a role in stimulating colorful
illustrations.) In that excellent fantasy by Dr. Seuss, The 500 Hats of
Bartholomew Cubbins, the hats are an integral part of the story. They
make it go with a swing. No one would dream of asking why they were
there. In The Many Hats of Mr. Minches, the hats are charming but vague.
As go the hats, so goes the story: it does not give the impression of
being carefully thought through. Recommended with reservations.