School Library Journal Review
Anton, a young boy, believes he has a magic hat that will make things disappear. Although the book is wordless, simple, charming illustrations capture the humor in Anton's youthful and successful antics. (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Anton looks a bit like Charlie Brown, although he's younger and more cheerful, and he wears a big, impressive turban with the feather in front, the kind that real magicians wear. Konnecke, in his English-language debut, records Anton's efforts to do magic with his prized hat, letting readers in on the joke that the hat doesn't actually give him any magic powers, even though Anton thinks it does. He can't make a tree disappear ("That's funny-the tree is still there. That tree is probably too big"), so he tries again with a small bird perching on a high branch. "Anton does some magic" (Anton waves his hands around professionally, the hat falls over his eyes as he does, and the bird flies away). "The bird is gone. Anton can do magic!" For his next trick, Anton brings his new talent to his friends Luke, who's skeptical, and Greta, who's lost her bird. Endearingly, Konnecke allows Anton to be the hero even after readers see that it's all coincidence, a sweet-tempered conclusion that celebrates kids' belief in their own abilities. Ages 3-up. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Anton's magic hat really can make things disappear, at least to Anton. The oversized orange turban falls over his eyes every time he puts it on. Readers will see what Anton cannot, that first a bird and then his friend Luke have disappeared by leaving the scene on their own. The bird returns as Anton works his magic on Luke, leading him to believe that he has accidentally turned his friend into a bird. He covers the bird with his turban just as Nina and Greta enter the scene with an empty bird cage, looking for Greta's lost bird, and Luke comes with them. Anton is able to make the bird reappear as if by magic, but this time, like readers, he understands the illusion. It's only a matter of time before he'll be pulling rabbits out of that turban. The static horizon, simple black lines, and big round heads on the characters make Anton and his friends look like they might live around the block from Charlie Brown. There is a superb interplay between the short declarative sentences and the cartoon-style illustrations that allows the true story to take place in the spaces between the words and the pictures, and in the connections readers need to make in their own heads. kathleen t. horning From HORN BOOK, Copyright The Horn Book, used with permission.
