The Hatmakers are commissioned to make a special hat for the King. Every component is important. For example Cordelia helps Aunt Ariadne add spider silk from the Brown Study Spider to the hat. Spiders work hard to spin their silk and so this is added to the hat to help the King work hard. It is specifically from a Brown Study Spider because this spider likes paper and silence and the king needs paper and silence to concentrate. Next Cordelia heads off to fetch a fresh flower from the St Aegis Vine but the most important thing is missing - the ear feather from the Athenian Owl - the wisest bird in the world which would have kept the King focused on his work and keen to remain undisturbed.
In the world of this book there are makers commissioned by the royal family - hatmakers, bootmakers, watchmakers, glovemakers, and cloakmakers. Once these artisans worked together in cooperation but something has happened and now they avoid one another and if they do meet there is suspicion and anger. The King himself seems to be losing his mind. He is sent away and his daughter Princess Georgina must now meet with the King of France. War is threatened and it seems one of the royal advisers is fuelling a fire. Lord Witloof appears to want a war. Cordelia is so worried about her father who has been reported drowned. She teams up with a young member of the bootmakers called Goose, and they form a team to thwart the evil intentions of Lord Witloof and to prevent a disastrous war with France. Along the way they will also need to make sense of the rift between the makers and learn who they can truly trust.
Publisher Blurb: Cordelia comes from a long line of magical milliners, who weave alchemy and enchantment into every hat. In Cordelia's world, Making - crafting items such as hats, cloaks, watches, boots and gloves from magical ingredients - is a rare and ancient skill, and only a few special Maker families remain. When Cordelia's father Prospero and his ship, the Jolly Bonnet, are lost at sea during a mission to collect hat ingredients, Cordelia is determined to find him. But Uncle Tiberius and Aunt Ariadne have no time to help the littlest Hatmaker, for an ancient rivalry between the Maker families is threatening to surface. Worse, someone seems to be using Maker magic to start a war. It's up to Cordelia to find out who, and why...
This is a new book and it is such fun. I love the idea of hats that contain extra powers.
A swashbuckling romp for lovers of history and magic. Kirkus
Merchant's writing is stunning and vivid, written with a beautiful prose style that is both accessible and full of elegance and wit. Forever Lost in Literature
You can read Chapter One here. This book is the first in a planned series. I highly recommend it for readers aged 10+. In this short video Tamzin talks about her book. You could use this to book talk The Hatmakers with your students. I should also mention there are some delicious food references in this story and there is a detailed, and highly imaginative glossary describing the various hat embellishments. Here is an example:
"Starlight - Lux stellaria - when strained through glass into a silver bowl, starlight is used to give hope and guidance to lost souls. Sprinkled on a hat, it fills the mind with sparkling ideas for adventures that promise to renew the spirit."
I also love that Tamzin uses a very rich vocabulary in her story with words like grimoires; tomes; eldritch; jollity; rue; creatrix; and phaeton.
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