The Hats of Marvello (Amanda Graham, illus by Lavanya Naidu, HarperCollins)
In a quintessential Australian country town, the biggest excitement for grade five student Olive is the upcoming school play, which she has a starring role in as the narrator. To shine on stage, she needs the perfect costume. Luckily she’s found the perfect top hat at the op shop. Taking the hat home, Olive discovers it is no ordinary top hat when talking rabbit Robbit unexpectedly pops out. How exactly has he ended up here? He was last in London, where he was trying to rescue his 100 white rabbit friends who had been kidnapped. Olive learns the secrets of the hat—it is one of a magical set that allow the rabbits to travel in time—and is drawn into Robbit’s unfolding mystery. Olive’s grandfather thinks rabbits are a pest on their farm, and he’s intent on wiping them out. How will he react to her offering refuge to 100 of them? Can she help Robbit and the white rabbits find their way home? From mystic London to dusty Mount Dry, the settings for The Hats of Marvello are beautifully drawn. While magic abounds, The Hats of Marvello also manages to explore rural Australia’s relationship to introduced species and our environment. Are rabbits, magical or not, a pest or a pet in an Australian country town? Young readers will revel in the hijinks of Olive.
Lefa Singleton Norton is a writer and bookseller from Naarm/Melbourne.
