The Hat (book)

Published in 1970 by Parents' Magazine Press, the book tells the story of a poor veteran, Benito Badoglio, who becomes rich after he unwittingly gains possession of a magic flying top hat.

[1] The author's interest in such colorful prose was explained by Selma G. Lanes in the Atlantic Monthly: "Ungerer feels strongly that children enjoy unfamiliar words and euphonious, mystifying phrases.

[1] This cyclic plot device suggests the magic top hat has led previous owners to similar changes of fate, and may continue to do so into the future.

The story begins with a magic satin shiny, black top hat belted with a magenta silk ribbon and sash, flying through the air.

He quickly realizes that the top hat can perform heroic deeds on command: it catches a flowerpot falling toward the head of a pedestrian; it returns the only purple puffbird in captivity who has escaped, to the National Zoo; it helps an army unit destroy a hideout of a group of bandits; and it rescues a baby, captive within a burning carriage, as it careens down a long flight of stairs.