YOU MUST BRING A HAT!

A little boy is invited to a party. The only stipulation is that he must bring a hat, which proves to be a lot more complicated than it sounds.

A white tot with a ski-jump swoop of brown hair is going to the “biggest, bestest, hattiest party of all time” (according to the invite). But alas, he does not own a hat! When even the local haberdashery doesn’t have one, the boy turns desperate. He spies a monkey with a hat, but the monkey will not lend it to him. So he must take the monkey (and its hat) to the party with him. But then he runs into another problem. The doorman at the party has a laundry list of other rules—one specifically being that a hat-wearing monkey may not come in unless it has a monocle. Thus starts an absurd chain of events that ends with a penguin wielding a suitcase full of cheese. When the little boy can’t take it anymore and shouts across the page that he has indeed brought a hat, a misconception is cleared up and he finally goes to the (multiculturally populated) party. Sharp-eyed readers who aren’t distracted by the silly, cumulative requirements may notice the loophole that solves the problem earlier in the story, causing all the more giggles.

Mounting exasperation, preposterous rules, and just plain fun make this party a surefire hit.