The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins by Dr. Seuss

The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins Reviews

• 
  Fergus, Quondam Happy Face

  When we laughed and laughed along with Doctor Seuss in The 500 Hats, after it was published in the post-war years, I think I always confused it with The Sorceror’s Apprentice.
  
  Remember that Disney Halloween clip from Fantasia?
  
  Same fantastic comically nightmarish sort of premise, I guess...
  
  My mother, the town librarian, was WAY ahead of the rest of our village in the mid-1950’s.
  
  Especially when it came to the Seuss books.
  
  She got so she could sniff out a potential kid’s literary masterpiece after she’d skimmed through only a few pages.
  
  And there were plenty of kids in our town back then too, cause the soldiers were all back home at last. And it was a time of hopeful beginnings - familial and economic.
  
  Cause money was still a bit scarce back then, and without money or much TV in Canada what were young couples to do?
  
  (If you said make more babies, you just passed Go on the monopoly board!)
  
  And my Mom had an expansive mind, too - just like Theodore Geisel - Dr. Seuss in REAL life.
  
  In Dr. Seuss’ books the sheer joy of living always bursts forth from his characters’ lives, off the printed page, and into our hearts!
  
  And my Mom also loved mathematics - it was her university major - and she loved complex thinking. And she had a wonderful sense of delightfully black humour.
  
  I guess I got my mischievous imagination from her.
  
  Got so bad, that when I was four or five our next-door neighbour Lillian forbade her young niece Judy from visiting us, because that little tot Fergus was too bad an influence on little girls!
  
  But people my age from the old neighbourhood whom I still see these days - those who are still around (and they’re getting scarcer and scarcer!) - picture my late Mom now as the grown-up lady who REALLY understood little kids like them.
  
  They must have heard her recommend Geisel to them too, in those long ago and far-away days.
  
  Yes, she loved to talk books. Books her own kids loved. Especially GOOD books, like we love to talk about here on GR!
  
  Which is why huge waiting lists built up for certain new books at our tiny cubbyhole of a book emporium in our sleepy little village - her public library.
  
  So back when Geisel’s first books appeared she went wild with delight - mentally foreseeing an elated bibliophilic clientele.
  
  And THIS - The 500 Hats - was one of Geisel’s first.
  
  And one of his BEST!
  
  And, you know, I haven’t checked - but was Geisel also a mathematician?
  
  For there’s nothing like the algebra of exponentially mushrooming hats to make a mathematician chuckle...
  
  I can almost hear my mom roaring with laughter, somewhere far, far above us from up in Heaven, when she thinks of Dr Seuss now.
  
  And who knows - maybe God picked Dr Seuss as the kiddies’ Court Jester up there!
• 
  Sara

  Came across a review of this Dr. Seuss book that I had never seen before. I didn't expect to find an unfamiliar Dr. Seuss, so I took a few moments (which was all I had to spare) and read it. It is an early work and Seusslike, but more in the form or a traditional fairytale than his books usually are. What's not to enjoy if Theodore is involved? I have loved every word he has put to paper.
  
  So, a bit of fun in an otherwise not much fun day.
• 
  [S] Bibliophage

  I was able to read the sequel before this book, so I was expecting that this could be better. I prefer the sequel than this, but I still enjoyed the story. It's just that I don't think that I found any lesson after reading it.
• 
  Ronyell

  
  
  “The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins” is one of Dr. Seuss’ earlier books as it is not written in the rhyming text that Dr. Seuss has been well known for. “The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins” is about a young boy named Bartholomew Cubbins who discovers that every time he takes a hat off his head, a new one sprouts up on his head, which cause trouble for him when the king finds out about it. This book may be a bit too dark for smaller children, but older children will definitely enjoy this classic tale from Dr. Seuss.
  
  Dr. Seuss’ early book is not written in the traditional rhyming text that he has been known for, but is instead written in a splendid narrative that is told in an extremely exciting and effective way. The story is also extremely creative as hats appeared on Bartholomew’s head with a real explanation which makes the matter mysterious. Dr. Seuss’ illustrations are once again in black and white with the exception of Bartholomew’s hats which are colored red, which effectively show how the hat has a huge importance to the story.
  
  
  
  Parents should know that the scenes where the King threatened to cut Bartholomew's head off because Bartholomew could not take the hats off might disturb some children. Parents might want to read this book first to see if their child could handle such intense subject matter.
  
  “The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins” is a wonderful tale that is both exciting and suspenseful for many children and will be enjoyed by many children for years to come. I would recommend this book to children ages six and up because of the extreme dark tone that this book presents that would scare smaller children.
  
  Review is also on:
  Rabbit Ears Book Blog
  
  
  
  
• 
  Sophia Triad

  Very funny book. One if the few non-rhyming books ever written by Dr. Seuss.
  We enjoyed it thoroughly.
• 
  Matt

  Since I was 6, just learning to read on my own and going through my Dr. Suess phase, this has been my favorite Dr. Seuss story. What didn't occur to me then, that occurs to me now, is that this is one of Dr. Seuss's only prose works. It does not have Dr. Seuss's easily parodied meter or a rhyme scheme.
  
  I don't know what the meaning of the story is. If it has an overall meaning, its not nearly as easy to tease out as so many of Seuss's openly allegorical and more famous tales. Perhaps that's part of what placed the story in my esteem then, and holds it there now. An allegorical story is trying desparately to convince me of something, and generally speaking in a way that annoys me especially when the moral of the story is so much simplier than the problem that it seems to have no practical merit. 'The 500 Hats' isn't desparate to convince me of something; it's just entertaining and if I learn something from it then all the better. As has become typical of my opinion as I aged, I think I was unconsciously rejecting politics as the highest level of art even then.
  
  The basic story concerns the conflict between the very small, and the very great. Bartholomew Cubbins has a family hat that he's quite willing to remove from his head to please the proud King Derwin. Unfortunately for poor Cubbins, his hat is not nearly so willing to be removed. Cubbin's involuntary act of hubris leads to conflict with the entire social fabric of the Kingdom - a conflict that Cubbin's ends up winning not by any virtue of his own part (except perhaps basic goodness and fast feet), but by the sheer stubbornness of the hat over which he has no control. In the end, the audacity of the hat ends up pleasing the King so well, he's willing to have it's vainity crown his own head and Bartholmew Cubbins returns to his humble roots unmolested and unencumbered (except for new found wealth).
• 
  Alan Cook

  Dr. Seuss wasn't a great poet, but he had a way with words and told a good story, usually with a moral. We had this book when I was young. I like to think the good doctor influenced my poetry writing. Here is my ode to him:
  
  ODE TO DR. SEUSS
  
  by Alan Cook
  
  In the whimsical world of beloved Dr. Seuss
  Live an elephant (faithful), a big-hearted moose,
  And creatures, the wildest that you ever saw,
  A grinch with a heart that's three sizes too small,
  A bustard, a lorax (he speaks for the trees),
  And prejudiced sneetches, with stars, if you please;
  There are 500 hats and a cat who wears one,
  A circus and zoo that are oodles of fun,
  And oobleck (be careful for what things you wish),
  Green eggs (you will like them) and colorful fish,
  And wonderful places like Solla Sollew,
  All dreamt by the Doctor for dreamers like you.
  
• 
  Abigail

  Heading into town one day, the humble Bartholomew Cubbins whips his hat off his head when King Derwin passes in his carriage, only to find that a new one - an exact duplicate - has taken its place. The irate king, prouder than he is wise, stops the procession to demand that Bartholomew show the proper respect, and that young boy, almost petrified with fright, rushes to comply. Unfortunately, no matter how many times he removes his hat, he always finds it instantly replaced. Hauled off to the castle, he is confronted by the king and his courtiers in the throne room, and an investigation is launched. But no one, from the hat maker to the wise men, the magicians to the executioner, can solve the problem. Eventually, the king's spoiled rotten nephew, the Grand Duke Wilfred, suggests chucking Bartholomew off the tower, a fate that is only avoided when the final, 500th hat to appear is so dazzlingly ornate, that the king decides he must have it for himself...
  
  The first of two picture-books featuring that engaging young hero, Bartholomew Cubbins - the second was
  Bartholomew and the Oobleck, a Caldecott Honor Book in 1950 - The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins was originally published in 1938, the year after Dr. Seuss's picture-book debut,
  And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, and is his second contribution to the form. Although I definitely read the second book about Bartholomew as a girl, this one is not a title I recall from my own childhood. I picked it up as part of a Dr. Seuss retrospective I have undertaken, as an act of personal protest against the suppression of six of the author/artist's titles -
  And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,
  McElligot's Pool,
  If I Ran the Zoo,
  Scrambled Eggs Super!,
  On Beyond Zebra! and
  The Cat's Quizzer - in recent days. See my review of
  And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, to be found
  HERE, for a fuller exploration of my thoughts on that matter. This title has thankfully not (yet!) been deemed controversial.
  
  Leaving that aside, I enjoyed The 500 Hat of Bartholomew Cubbins immensely, appreciating its tongue-in-cheek fairy-tale feeling, and its immensely expressive artwork. Parts of the story, particularly the episode in which both the Grand Duke Wilfred and Yeoman the Bowman attempt to shoot the hats from Bartholomew's head, reminded me of traditional lore. Specifically, the famous episode from the
  William Tell story. Other elements - the five hundred hats, the hapless court attendants, the executioner's refusal to behead Bartholomew, because it must be done when the prisoner is hatless - struck me as vintage Seuss, with that oddball sense of humor, and that matter-of-factly magical quality I have come to associate with his work. The illustrations here are done in black and white, with Bartholomew's red hat providing the only color on the page. This choice emphasizes how central the hat is to the story, as its outrageous and unusual reproduction of itself causes such chaos for both its owner and the rather silly king. Royalty definitely doesn't come off looking well here - King Derwin seems self-important, rather stupid, easily led, and swayed by both vanity and greed - making me wonder whether this was common in Seuss' books, or not. I'll be keeping an eye on that, going forward in this reading project. This is one I would recommend to picture-book readers who enjoy fairy-tale type stories, although it's a little text-heavy, so it's definitely not for the very young. Perhaps five and up?
• 
  Matthew

  I have been dreading to read this book not because of the plot but for the mere fact that it is a very long book considering that its a children illustrated books. It surprises me that even though it is relatively a short book compare to an adult novel, it feels the same as to reading a 500-paged book. Luckily I am fortunate enough that this was not a bad book but not a typical Dr. Seuss book.
  
  I have to warn everyone that since this one of Dr. Seuss earliest works, it lacks the usual creative method that Dr. Seuss incorporates in his other iconic works. There is barely any rhyme in the book and the illustrations are mostly black and white which is a complete shame since I love being captivated by Dr. Seuss illustrations.
  
  The story is about a young boy named Bartholomew Cubbins who is practically poor. He lives in the outskirts of the town and from my estimated guess his family are farmers. One day he has the unfortunate task of needing to sell cranberries and to earn quick profit for his family. Meanwhile the King of Didd, King Derwin is heading from his castle to stroll around and see the locals. As a custom when being in presence of royalty, you are supposed to take off your hat and bow and when the King arrives, he tells his coachmen to stop and drive backwards because he witness someone who hasn't taken their hat off.
  
  That individual as you guess is Bartholomew Cubbins. He does have his hat off but for some mystical magical purpose the moment he takes off his hat another hat appears. The King gets outraged and demands that he removes the hat again and when Bartholomew is unable to accomplish that task, he is sent to the palace where the King try out different solutions to this issue. The King tries magic, executioner, bow and arrows, hat expert, and even elders who know the history of the Kingdom and worlds beyond and yet no one is unable to solve this hat problem.
  
  The final option is to push Bartholomew from the tallest tower and to pummel to his death. While all this is going on, Bartholomew is constantly removing his hat and it isn't until he removes his 500 hat that the mystery is solved. When he gets to 500, his hat has changed to the most beautiful and elegant hat and the King decides to spare his life. In the process the King wants all his hats and offers 500 gold coins and they live happily ever after.
  
  While I really enjoyed the storyline, I wish it could have been shorter and could at least had more rhyme to the story. I believe when you have rhyming in children's books, it makes the story flow better and the pacing quicker. If I were a child, I would have been bored by this story and give up midway through. For an early Dr. Seuss book, I will accept that he hadn't come full circle to discovering his craft and his creative flow.
  
  P.S. If you really enjoyed this book and want to read more adventures of Bartholomew and the King then you should definitely check out the sequel which is
  Bartholomew and the Oobleck.
• 
  Candace

  Bartholomew Cubbins lives on a farm. He looks across the land to the castle and feels very small. King Derwin lives in the castle and looks down toward the farms. He feels mighty important. One day Bartholomew is walking from his farm to the town to sell cranberries. The king with his trumpeters and King's Own Guard are racing through town on a royal precession. King Derwin stops the precessional when he see Bartholomew with his hat still on. The king becomes angry and demands Bartholomew Cubbins take his hat off. Bartholomew reaches up again to remove his hat. Magically another hat sits on his head. He now has three hats. King Derwin has Bartholomew arrested and brought to the castle.
  
  Originally published in 1938, this Dr. Seuss book has very little rhyming. It is a book to entertain. The pictures are printed in black and white with Bartholomew's hat shaded in red. The text is advanced. I would say a seven year old and older. There are a few situations Bartholomew sent to the executioner, Bartholomew to be thrown from the highest turret, and the spanking of the Grand Duke that might need parental explanations.
• 
  Erth

  We love Dr. Seuss at my house.
• 
  Mariah Roze

  My students found this book morbid and boring.
  
  "The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins is the story of a young peasant and his unjust treatment at the hands of King Derwin."
• 
  Jason

  At first when I saw this Dr Seuss book WASN'T a rhyming book I thought that I wasn't going to like it, but it is a funny little story. A power-mad King who demands a boy takes he hat off when in the presence of a powerful man as he, the problem is taking of your hat is not as easy as you'd think it would be. The illustrations are very nice too, all shades of black and grey with the bright red hat standing out. One of Dr Seuss's more interesting and less insane books.
• 
  Dolly

  In honor of
  Dr. Seuss's birthday and the Read Aloud America program, I wanted to find one of his books we hadn't read yet.
  
  I checked Goodreads and realized that we still had several more to read. So I borrowed a few of them from our local library and we chose this one tonight.
  
  This story is different from what we've come to expect from the good doctor. The narrative is long and it doesn't rhyme. It's not filled with fantastic, crazy creatures. It's actually one of the most straightforward stories I have ever seen of his.
  
  It's an entertaining story, filled with cheek and wry humor. I'm not sure what the message is, but it's fun to read aloud. We really enjoyed reading it together.
• 
  Luann

  Fun! I may have read this one when I was young, but I didn't remember most of the details - except maybe when the hats started getting fancier with each one. I seemed to remember that.
  
  I wanted an explanation for why Bartholomew suddenly couldn't take off his hat, but I did like that it was brought up again in the end, that no one "could ever explain how the strange thing had happened. They only could say it just 'happened to happen' and was not very likely to happen again."
  
  This is one of the longer Dr. Seuss books. It isn't for beginning readers. It also doesn't have his trademark rhyming text. Still, a fun story and well worth reading.
• 
  Cynthia Austin

  *Review from my 8 year old* So, I really like the part when the King said, "Young man, march down to the dungeon and tell the executioner to chop off your head." Then, Bartholomew had to take off his hats to get his head chopped off, but he has 500 hats on so he can't. Then, he went over to the King and said, "I have to not have a hat on to get my head chopped off."
  It was a good book.
  
• 
  Kerri

  I was so surprised there was no rhyme scheme in this one when I first read it! I thought Dr. Seuss always rhymed. A silly little story dealing with the craziness of social convention and when power goes to the head. Strange, but funny.
• 
  Steven R. McEvoy

  Recently because of some media spotlight on Dr. Seuss and his works. I decided to reread the 6 books in question and now several others. But alas only had 5 of the 6 on hand. This is a continuation in an attempt to review all of the books by Dr. Seuss.
  
  Dr. Seuss is famous for his many children’s books. Books that spark the imagination. Surprise, and amaze. There is a large collection of old animated shorts based on them. And these has been several movies both animated and life action. He also wrote two books that though written and illustrated in a similar style and format are considered adult books they are The Seven Lady Godivas and You’re Only Old Once. Godivas I believe is long out of print, I believe the last printing was in 1988. And I am only aware of it because it is the favorite book of a friend.
  
  I do not know a child who has not engaged with these books on some level. My youngest and my wife have a few of them memorized. And recite them to each other before bed, as much as read. My children loved the old, animated shorts, and like most of the movies. I was less fond of the live action movies but appreciate most of the animated ones. But back to this book.
  
  In 1931 and 1932 Dr. Seuss published four small volumes about the Boners. Which were compiled into a single volume called The Pocket Book of Boners. After that he published And to Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street. And this was his third published volume. And one of a few written in prose rather than verse. It was turned into a short film in 1943 and nominated for an Oscar.
  
  Of the many Seuss books we have read this one is geared towards the top end of the reading levels. There are more words on a few pages on this volume than some entire other books by Seuss.
  
  This story takes place in the Kingdom of Didd and involves primarily Bartholomew Cubbins and King Derwin. The king is upset because he believes Bartholomew is being obstinate and not removing his hat. Bartholomew is distraught but overall very stoic about his predicament. For every time he removes a hat a new one appears. The king’s nephew, a grand duke is a bit of a pest. The executioner is very nice. The story takes an unusual turn climbing a great spiral staircase to the highest parapet. But to find out what happens you will need to read the book. Two quotes from the book really caught me as I read it this time:
  
  "Very serious nonsense."
  
  "He knows about everything in all my kingdom, in all the world beyond, and in all the worlds that may happen to be."
  
  I recall this being one of my son’s favorites. And it is a fun read.
  
  Dr. Seuss actively published books between 1931 and 1990. He passed away in 1995 and there have been nearly 20 published posthumously. And another 18 that he authored under other names and that others illustrated. Not counting the many collections, compilations, and repackaging done by the publishers and literary estate over the years. In total there are nearly 100 works written, illustrated, or both by Dr. Seuss. They have been translated into many languages and they are loved around the world, by the young and young at heart. And this is an excellent offering.
  
• 
  Carroto

  Free on Audible.
  Το άκουσα ελεύθερα στο Audible.
• 
  Julia

  I read this children book at the age of 24. Quite late, but I'm not from US. I first heard about Dr. Seuss, when I become consciously intrested in American literature and culture. Why I decided to read book for children? Because I heard that his books cause, that quite a lot of children were fond of reading. The final two reasons to read this book were that I found downloadable version of book (it wasn't published in Poland) and curiosity. I looked for the answer why Jared Leto directed his music videos under a pseudonym of Bartholmew Cubbins.
  It's time to say something about book itself. I must say, that as an adult, I like the absurdity of the story, and probably I would have like it as a child. There's no self-evident moral, so it's less boring and let children think about reasons of events.
  Addition of simple illustrations, with just three colours and highlighted main object of the story - make it possible to focus on the story, instead of drawings.
  Unfortunately, I'm not the best person to judge the language, because English is not my mother tongue, but I think that this book use language simple enough to be easy understandable by children and at the same time rich enough to not be boring and too childish.
• 
  Joy Gerbode

  This was one of the first Dr. Seuss books I ever read, and it was a delight to re-read it. It's not in the well-known rhyming format we're accustomed to with Dr. Seuss, but it is full of wit, great pictures, and interesting characters.
  
  Feb 2019 ... I hadn't read this book for quite a while, but working in the library I decided to share some of my favorite Dr. Seuss. This one, unlike most of his books, does NOT rhyme ... and I'm not really sure there's a "hidden message", either, as in Green Eggs and Ham. But it's an enjoyable story of fantasy and whim ...
• 
  Samantha

  I simply ADORE this book. Bartholomew just can't seem to catch a break! He takes his hat off in the presence of the king only to be taken to the castle for not doing so. What is up with that? Could it possibly be the fact that he just can't take off his hat? OR is it because one keeps appearing underneath every one he takes off. The hats are so pretty and they keep getting more & more eye-catching. One of my favorite Dr. Seuss books ever!!! =)
• 
  Patricia

  Great illustrations and great plot. In this story, Bartholomew Cubbins gets into quite a quandary when he takes off his hat to honor the King who is passing by and ends up having a hat somehow materialize atop his head. Naturally, the King is not amused by Bartholomew's apparent disrespect. Fortunately, 499 hats later, Bartholomew's head is finally bare. Love this Dr. Seuss story!
• 
  Jane

  Re-reading early Dr. Seuss in the light of all the recent bad press his books have been getting, I still am wowed by his wonderful graphic humor and writing skill. I cannot excuse the racist images in his cartoons, but I'm not going to cancel his genius, wither.
• 
  Heather

  One of two non-rhyming books ever written by Dr. Seuss, and by far my favorite! (PS: the second non-rhyming book? Its sequel: Bartholomew & the Oobleck. Just FYI.)
• 
  Steve Shilstone

  When I read this in my oh so early youth and witnessed the hats becoming fancier and fancier, I was delighted.
• 
  Hirdesh

  Fantasy children's book.
  
• 
  Shifty Reads

  3.5
  
  Cute story. But I'm not really impressed.