Happy birthday, madame chapeau

In a three-story house with a shop down below, lived the world's finest hat maker, Madame Chapeau.

Like the Lady herself, all her hats were refined.

Brilliantly singular.

One of a kind.

So begins Andrea Beaty's new rhyming picture book about a hat maker adored by her friends and neighbours.

On her birthday, Madame Chapeau wears the perfect bonnet made by her late husband.

But on the way to her birthday dinner, a crow snatches her hat and flies away with it, leaving Mme.

Chapeau sans bonnet.

As she chases the crow, everyone around her begins to follow her, offering their own hats for her to wear.

None of them are quite right for Madame Chapeau, though, until one special little girl offers her a hat knitted with love and [her] best birthday wish.

What appears rather odd to Mme Chapeau at first is actually the perfect gift for her.

A delightful story about love, community and friendship, with some fancy hats and a birthday thrown in for good measure.