[alert variation=”alert-info”]Publisher: Holiday House
Formats: Hardcover
Purchase: Powell’s | Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble | iBooks[/alert]

Quirky illustrations match an equally quirky premise in Hamilton’s But! The residents of Halibut Bay have cold heads. For reasons unknown, no one has ever thought to don a hat. When Eddie and Phil are sent off to do chores for an aunt, they discover that one chore is to throw a pirate birthday party. But, what will they give as a gift? Raiding the aunt’s craft room, they land on a pair of hand-knitted socks. When the pirate arrives, Eddie and Phil are unnerved to find he has only one leg! The socks are hidden, then found, and when the pirate birthday boy discovers a pair of socks, Eddie thinks fast and tells him it’s a hat/sock combination. With one sock on the pirate’s head and one on his remaining leg, the birthday party is a success! Hats are donned all around! Eddie and Phil are heroes.

“But!”

With each page turn, young readers will enjoy the “But!” that previews a thwarted gain, followed by the silly ways Eddie and Phil hold it all together.