Cordelia Hatmaker, 11, of the London Hatmakers, was enjoying the thunderstorms by playing captain of the Jolly Bonnet, a fine ship known for sailing to the farthest reaches to find the most unusual hatmaking supplies, when she was interrupted.

When Lord Witloof shows up at their front door, he has the worst possible news. He had been at the lighthouse and he’d seen the Jolly Bonnet get tossed about by the storm and wrecked on the dangerous rocks. There were no survivors.

The Hatmakers are heartbroken, as Cordelia’s father, Prospero, was the captain of the ship. If there were no survivors, then he’d been lost to them. Cordelia, however, refuses to believe the news. She knows that her father is still alive, somewhere, somehow. After all, she and her father had once survived 12 days at sea together on a leaky raft, after the shipwreck that killed her mother.

But Cordelia can’t go looking for her father just yet, as the Hatmakers have been tasked with making a special hat for the king. He is working on a peace treaty with the king of France, and although Cordelia is too young to be making hats all by herself, she can help her aunt and uncle and great-aunt. She is able to pick flowers to be used, help collect starlight, and even assist in the shop.

But when the Hatmakers go to the Palace to deliver the hat they’ve made, things do not go well. The king refuses to behave or even sit still. He just bounces around, acting strangely, and ignoring all the paperwork he’s supposed to be signing. He refuses to put on the hat the makers have brought to improve his concentration. He is also refusing his new books, cloak, watch, and gloves. All the new pieces are destroyed in the chaos, and the makers leave in frustration. What has come over the king, and what can Cordelia and her family do to prevent a possible war with France?

Cordelia may be young, but she’s determined to fix things. She can use her intelligence, her keen sense of observation, and maybe just a little bit of magic to figure out what it going on, and with the help of some friends, she might just be able to help the princess, stop a war, and restore her family’s reputation.

The Hatmakers is utterly charming from the first page to the last. Author Tamzin Merchant’s debut book is filled with delight and wonder, action and attitude, vivid characters and vibrant writing. Cordelia Hatmaker is a great role model, and I’m so happy that her adventures seem to be just beginning.

I loved every page of this book. Cordelia and her family are just as welcoming as the best book families, and her fearlessness is inspiring. I loved how she used her intelligence to understand what was going on, even when all the adults around her were distracted. She has a focus that is enviable, and her ability to learn from her mistakes is something I wish all kids could learn early on. The Hatmakers is charming, entertaining, uplifting, and heart-warming, and a book I hope all bookish girls read and take to heart.

Egalleys for The Hatmakers were provided by W.W. Norton & Company (Norton Young Readers) through NetGalley, with many thanks.

This was an excellent middle grade read! It was so well written, that I really felt I was a part of this magical world! The characters were amazingly done. I highly, highly recommend to those with middle aged children, who enjoy fun, magical stories! It was a nice break from my normal genre and I will definitely be buying for my reluctant middle grade reader, as I think it’s the type that will really captivate a child!

Really excellent middle grades novel that I purchased for my library! I thoroughly enjoyed it, and will definitely be recommending it to patrons.

The Hatmakers is a magical tale about family, friendship and believing in yourself.

There are two characters central to Tamzin Merchant’s story — Cordelia and the Hatmaker shop itself.

Cordelia is clever and brave. She sees a problem and sets out to fix it — even if she doesn’t always have all the tools. But when she doesn’t have all the answers, she’s not afraid to turn to her friends.

The Hatmaker shop is bold and beautiful, full of life, and sound, and quiet all at once. The shop is not only interactive in that it is where hats are made and purchased. The shop seems to know what is needed and when. It has a vivid voice all of its own.

The Hatmakers is a quick-moving adventure that’s sure to appeal to a large cross-section of readers.

I' 'm a sucker for a good Victorian London setting. It's the second book I've read this month centering on magic, and I kind of love this trend. I would hand this adventure off to the younger age range of MG

Magic, adventure, and a mystery all rolled into one story.
Cordelia is a strong protagonist who wants to believe her father is just "lost" and can then be found. She lives in world where there are Maker families - glovemakers, bootmakers - and she is part of the Hatmakers. There is rivalry among the families. But with a dark force permeating the kingdom, a King who is under a spell, and the mystery of how this all came about, Cordelia may need some help. The younger apprentices agree to set aside their differences and work together to save the kingdom.

I loved the idea behind this book, the fact that Cordelia comes from a family of Hatmakers with rare magical abilities to infuse hats with magic intrigued me. I do feel like the story was fun and light in some ways but it also felt a little chaotic and could have used some higher stakes or at least not everything working out quite so easily.

I absolutely adored this book. It was a great story of friendship, family and bravery. It is full of wonderful, quirky characters, and gives a wonderful picture of old world England.

Cordelia was a wonderful heroine. She was brave, caring, and was willing to do whatever it took to do the right thing. I loved her family and how much they loved and cared for Dilly. Goose and Sam were great friends for Dilly.

Another thing that I liked about this story was the idea of the different "Makers" and how they are rivals. I was very pleased when the author told us about how the rivalry started, and didn't just leave it at, "well we are just rivals".

This was a delightful and fun story, that is perfect for any middle grader, who wants to escape to a magical world.

This is such a fun and magical story. I want to spend a vacation at Hatmaker House - where they spend days Making & creating... gathering start dust on the roof, mixing bits of happiness and confidence into their beautiful hats - with a little help from the house itself.
This story has so much to say about hope and family, and bringing people together. Cordelia is just the bright star of the story, shining with hope for her lost father, confidence in her family, and a light that strives to draw people together rather than apart.
This is a kid's book, and I did have one content issue with it - small spoiler alert, not crucial to the plot though - Cordelia provides hats to two teen boys on opposite sides of a duel of honor (over a girl) she intends to give them something to stop them from killing each other. In what should have been just a funny mix up, the hats actually make them have intense fond feelings for each other. Instead of dueling the boys run top each other in their big silly hats and kiss. It seemed like a funny cartoony stars and hearts swirling kind of moment. But the author takes it a step further for some reason and points out that their hats fall off, and then something no one expected happened, they began kissing passionately again. Not sure why that needed to be in there. It had nothing to do with the plot, and just seemed weird to throw that kind of subject matter in for two pages for no reason.
Overall the story had lots of positive messages and the fantasy world created is delightful and magical. It sort of ends with a cliffhanger and I'd definitely read the next installment.

The Hatmakers follows Cordelia 'Dilly' Hatmaker through a story of loss, mystery, and clothes as she and the other Royal Makers attempt to facilitate England's peace talks with France using their magical clothing. Tension builds when the king goes bonkers and the Peace Clothes are all stolen mysteriously. Will the Makers be able to finish in time? What happened to the king? And who keeps stealing all the hats?!

This middle grades novel is a delightful fantasy set a city very like in early-industrial London. Every character is wonderfully complex and developed, and the plot constantly kept me on the edge of my toes. I can't wait for Tamzin Merchant's inevitable follow up to see what Dilly will do next.

This one was super cute and funny. I thought the magic system was really whimsical. The setting was great. It could have been a little shorter but overall I really enjoyed this story.

This was the cutest and sweetest book I have read this year, it is perfect story about friendship and family. My niece would love this book and I will be buying this for her. Cordelia is a wonderful character and watching her grew though the book was great. The book was very well written and the pacing was good too. It was very fast to get into and very easy to follow. Tamzin Merchant debut novel was very good, I highly recommend it to anyone who loves magic and whimsy. I can't get want to see what other novels Tamzin Merchant will be writing.

Cordelia is a young girl being raised in a large, twirly whirly house by her aunt and uncle. They are Hatmakers, one of five Maker families in their town. Cordelia's family have long been crafting hats to harness all of the emotions and energy someone may need.


One evening, Cordelia learns that her father has been lost at sea. And soon after, items begin to be stolen from the homes of the Makers. Someone is trying to sabotage the Makers relationship with the royal family - and sabotage the King himself. Everything is a mess! And Cordelia is determined to figure out what's going on.


Oh, the magical delight of this story! There is such happiness within! An absolutely engaging and sweet middle grade.


Content warning for: parent death mention


• What a little character Cordelia is! She is full of hope and has a big heart. Her and her family are so much fun to read about


• Love a story with a quirky aunt raising you in a big ol' magical house. There are enchanting little alcoves and spaces inside of the Hatmaker house, it is so vivid. I love a house as a character, location as character. So much whimsy


"Hatmakers had lived in this house for more generations than anyone could quite remember. Magic from the ingredients, brought home from adventures all around the world, had seeped into the grain of the wood and the time-worn stones. The wrinkled glass of the old windows, the walls, and even the chimney pots bristled and shivered with their own eccentric magic."


• Tamzin Merchant's writing is wonderfully descriptive, I loved imagining it all in my head. From the big library with an aviary for the pigeons to Great Aunt Petronella in her alchemy room


• The adventure and action is all very consistent, starting quite early and carrying through straight to the cliffhanger of an end! Before I read this, I didn't realize it is to be a series and I just about lost it when it ended the way it did!


There are two separate storylines running throughout that somewhat merge into one, and I felt so gripped by Cordelia's story with her father. I'll be looking out for the second book!


• One of my favorite things this book does is center how important it is to act with intent. How differently doing something with love and care and good intention can affect an outcome vs. when you do something with impatience, frustration, or anger


Overall:

I found this a delight! I really love the bits and bobs of information we learn about ingredients the Makers use and how they all work together to conjure the hat. Certain ingredients for wisdom, others for peace. This story is full of imagination and I really enjoyed it.


Thank you so much to NetGalley and Norton Young Readers for an arc copy!

Such an adorable book!!! This YA fantasy is about Makers who create magical clothing for people that do different things - a hat for bravery or boots for dancing etc. The 5 families - Hatmakers, Bootmakers, Cloakmakers, Watchmakers and Glovemakers dislike each other but when peace between England and France are threatened, the families must make Peace clothing to try and negotiate Peace. Weird things keep happening, the families are getting robbed and only Miss Cordelia Hatmaker and her friend, Mr Bootmaker can figure out what is happening and stop it before England goes to war with France. I absolutely adored this story and really didn’t want it to end.. to my pleasant surprise, it’s been cleverly staged for a second book! The characters were awesome, including Sam Lightfinger and although I figured out one villain, the second was a bit of a shock to me. This book is great for someone who needs magic and adventure in their life!

Enchanting. Whimsical. Adventurous.
These are the words that I would use to describe this middle grade fantasy adventure that includes bits of historical fiction. It’s a story with THAT great mix of magic and adventure that features a young female protagonist who is constantly reminded by her father to, “keep wildness in your wits and magic in your fingertips.” (I really, really love this line.)

Cordelia Hatmaker is the youngest member of a long line of magical milliners. In her world, there are families of Makers who craft various pieces of attire (boots, hats, cloaks, watches, and gloves), imbuing them with particular character elements based on the magic embedded in the “ingredients” used to create them.

Her father disappears during a mission to collect a key ingredient for a new hat commissioned for the King. Unable to devote time to search for her father, the Hatmakers must deal with rivalries between the other Maker families AND the impending war between England and France.

Magical, middle grade adventure stories are quickly becoming one of my go to genres. I don’t know if it’s the need for escapist lit or that I’m doing some “pre reading” for my kiddos to help curate a collection of quality books that they’ll enjoy in a few years.

The Hatmakers by Tamzin Merchant is definitely one I’ll be adding to our family’s bookshelves. I can’t wait to read this aloud when they are older.

I just adore the included glossary in the back identifying the character traits for each Maker ingredient. It would make for a fun, creative project where we could discuss each character strength or weakness, combine them, and then craft our own hats, of course.

Thank you to W. W. Norton & Company and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

What a fun book! The cover of this is colorful and drew me in, then the start of the book dives right in and keeps a great pace with plenty of action. I thought the characters were entertaining and the plot was interesting. I flew through this in one sitting and I hope there will be more!

Cordelia, or Dilly as her family calls her, is a young Hatmaker in training. She comes from a long line of Hatmakers and can't wait until she can start making her own creations. When her father is lost at sea on a mission for a special feather, she starts her own investigation into what happened and will not accept that he's not coming back. Meanwhile, war with France is on the horizon and all the Makers have been tasked with making peace clothes for the princess.

Cordelia has a couple friends, Goose the Bootmaker's son and Sam, an orphan who sells newspapers. The threesome are cute and I liked their friendship. They worked together well and were able to take down the villains and help their families start to come together. I love seeing strong friendship bonds and the way they accept each other without hesitation.

I'm really hoping there will be a sequel to this, especially with the surprise at the end. I'd love to learn more about the other Makers and hopefully see them come together and make more awesome outfits!

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

"The Hatmakers" was a great mix of Peter Pan and "Britfield". I loved Cordella's adventure, her friends and her loyalty to her family. I cannot wait to tell my students about this book!

Delightfully quirky, very British tale of whimsy and magic. Dastardly deeds and plucky children abound!

The Hatmakers have been waiting patiently for Prospero Hatmaker to return with the key ingredient for the Peace Hat they're Making for the king, but as war looms over the country, Prospero is lost at sea. Cordelia knows that her father is still alive, and is determined to track him down even as her aunts and uncles scramble to finish the Peace Hat--but there are dark forces at work that would prefer the war to go ahead and are determined to stop the Hatmakers and Cordelia from success.

*The Hatmakers* is Tamzin Merchant's debut novel. Best known for her acting work in various period pieces like *Pride and Prejudice* and *The Tudors*, Merchant brings all the charm she portrays as an actress to this children's fantasy. From the very beginning as we meet each of the Hatmakers, their 19th-century home is filled with charming touches of magic, from the "ancient grimoires, guides to new sciences, and tomes full of eldritch secrets" to "one of the floorboards [which] was very ticklish and tended to wriggle if you walked over it."

There's really not a lot that can go wrong here: we have a plucky young protagonist, Cordelia, newly orphaned although she remains convinced that her father is alive; a grimy street urchin who befriends her; her best friend, Goose, who is forbidden to have any contact with her since he is a rival Bootmaker; as well as various side characters of all shapes and sizes, from an overzealous Shakespearean actor to Cordelia's conspiratorial great-aunt. My biggest gripe would probably be that the plot drags quite a bit in the beginning, largely due to the fact that Cordelia and company don't realize that there's a baddie running around town, although the reader gets a sense of malaise from the beginning.

Frankly, this book is good but not particularly unique. That's not necessarily a bad thing—it's a middle grade book, so the target audience are those 9-12 year olds who are voracious readers and read everything they can get their hands on, and those readers will love this. If you're an adult who enjoys the occasional middle grade read, you can probably give this one a miss unless you really like hats or enjoy books that embrace the deliberately silly (which I found to be a bit tiresome, but which might land for a younger reader, particularly if reading aloud).

Despite not being a particular standout, this book was entertaining and a good light read that I'd definitely pick up for the kids in my life. It has the perfect amounts of adventure, magic, mystery, and excitement to delight you from beginning to end.

The Hatmakers is a rollicking adventure for young readers by Tamzin Merchant. Due out 2nd Feb 2021 from Norton on their Young Readers imprint, it's 368 pages and will be available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. The art by Paola Escobar is whimsical and appealing and really sets off the story very well.

It's always a red-letter day when I come across a really good juvenile book. This one took me back to my own early book-loving days. A love of reading which lasts a lifetime is an incredibly precious gift and it wouldn't surprise me at all to hear someone in 20 years claim this book was the start of the bibliophile life for them. A dark and stormy night, an unexpected crash at the door, a shipwreck, and the start of a boundless adventure for young Cordelia Hatmaker who is brave, loyal, resourceful, and magical. There are so many cool details in the storytelling and the book itself that it's hard to narrow down to a few. The characters are wonky and wonderful. There is an abundance of whimsy, but it doesn't detract from the fact that it's really well written and put together. I loved loved loved the addition of a glossary at the end containing an abbreviated herbal ingredients (with funny made up (but appropriate) botanical names).

I enjoyed this one very much and would recommend it without reservation for public and school library acquisition, gift giving to a 9-12 year old friend/family, or as a bedtime read for precocious younger kids.

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.