The Quangle Wangle's Hat by Edward Lear

The Quangle Wangle's Hat Reviews

• 
  Gerry

  Louise Voce's illustrations enhance what is a rhyming story with an extra large hat and a strange and motley collection of creatures; it certainly fits Edward Lear's 'Nonsense Verse' where it first appeared.
  
  The Quangle Wangle sits in his Crumpetty Tree wearing an oversized Beaver Hat, said to be 'one hundred and two feet wide'. It is so large the QW's face can not be seen. A whole host of creatures including the more normal ones such as Mr and Mrs Canary, a stork, a duck, an owl, a bumble been, a frog and a fimble fowl, come to live on his Beaver Hat.
  
  They are joined by a blue baboon, an orient calf, an attery squash and a bisky bat and the QW realises, apart from his Hat being crowded, that they will make such a noise when they move about. And move about they do, for they dance around as the blue baboon plays the flute by the light of the Mulberry Moon.
  
  The good thing is that at the end of it all with all this merriment they are all happy with the Quangle Wangle Quee!
  
  Silly though it is, I feel sure that read aloud it would amuse the children.
• 
  Polly Batchelor

  38/1001
  1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up
• 
  Binibining `E (of The Ugly Writers)

  Jam and Jelly and bread. Yum! Cute poem!
• 
  Stacy Renee (LazyDayLit)

  A strange rhyming story about a ridiculously big hat and a bunch of mostly made up creatures that come to live on it...?
  
  We read this for the 1001 Children's Books to Read Before You Grow Up list.
• 
  Jennifer

  This was one of five books we brought on a two week vacation and Ori and I enjoyed reading it every night, proving that poetry is magic. The pobble with no toes is my favorite creature; my daughter seems to find the dong with the luminous nose, the fimble fowl and the owl hilarious. The Quangle Wangle has the best dance parties.
• 
  Erik

  I read the version with illustrations by Janet Stevens. The poem is just ok. There are a lot of interesting creatures but it doesn’t do much more than list them. The illustrations though do a great job of bringing these inventive creatures to life and make it worth a read.
• 
  Katie K

  A fun book with rhyming and lots of colorful illustrations!
• 
  Tanya

  I read this before and forgot to make it as read. I enjoyed a chance to revisit the silly story and see ithe adorable illustrations.
• 
  Saffron Moon

  This rating is for the edition illustrated by Helen Oxenbury.
• 
  Amy Forrester

  This picture book uses the text of the classic nonsense poem by Edward Lear. The Quangle Wangle Quee sits atop the Crumpetty Tree in his enormous hat. He lives on jam and jelly and bread, but he’s very lonely. Soon, however, Mr. and Mrs. Canary arrive and beg to build their home on the Quangle Wangle’s hat. He consents and the birds are followed by a parade of animals, from the Stork to the Frog, to the imaginary Pobble with no toes and the Fimble Fowl with the corkscrew leg. That night by the light of the Mulberry Moon the animals dance to the flute music of the Blue Baboon and were as happy as happy could be.
  
  Lear’s rhyming poetry is full of nonsense words that just beg to be read aloud. Voce’s whimsical illustrations are placed in a coastal or island location. Although the passage of time is only mentioned at the end of the poem, Voce sets the time frame of the poem within one day. You can follow the progress of the day by looking at the sky and the lighting of each page, from orangey dawn to blue sky afternoon to a purple night lit by the Mulberry moon.
  
  Full Review at Picture-Book-a-Day:
  http://picturebookaday.blogspot.com/2...
• 
  Esther

  This is a lovely book, although it's old (published 1969), its satisfying rhythm and rhyme and general silliness is timeless. I think the illustrations by Helen Oxenbury are also excellent, and the use of different mark-making and repeated patterns could be explored further in Art. This book could be used as part of a unit exploring poetry and language, because it has a lot of made up words and rhythms within, which shows children the freedom you have as an author. Children could compare this poem with other poems, thinking about the choice of real and made up words. I think books like this are important in showing how you can play with language and artwork to create a classic.
• 
  Brooke

  Summary:
  It tells the story of a creature called the Quangle Wangle that lives on the top of a Crumpetty Tree and wears a very large hat. The Quangle Wangle is lonely until a conglomeration of creatures with silly names and attributes come to build their houses on his hat. The text is silly mixing real and made-up words. It is a fun, cute story. This book is an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award Winner.
  
  Theme: It could be a good intro to a lesson on rhymes
  
  Curricular Use: Read Aloud
  
  Level: K-2
  
  Illustrations: The pictures are colorful and illustrate the story well.
  
• 
  Cherene

  1001 Children's Books list
  Age group: 3+
  Their list: 38/1001
  My list: 38/1001
  
  Why they say you should read it? Famous in the nineteenth century for his limericks that he helped popularize.
  
  The book is about a lonely...creature that lets a host of animals build a home in his huge, decorated hat because he's lonely. Suddenly, he's not lonely and life is good. It's not Lear's story that's as intriguing as his nonsense limericks.
  
  My kids thoughts? They had a blast putting together their own nonsense words.
• 
  Sarah

  An old-school poem gets a fresh face with Voce's lush illustrations. What a fun book to introduce reluctant readers to poetry. With fun, Dr-Seuss like animals, and an easily identifiable theme, this one hits the spot.
• 
  Amanda

  Nicely illustrated, but I can't say it was one of my favorites. All the "Qu"'s in the book made it a little of a not-so-fun tongue twister and there wasn't a lot of interesting things in it (although my son loved it more than me).
• 
  Allison

  This was a really fun, colorful, children's book that I really wish I'd discovered when my kids were little. I really think they'd have enjoyed it a lot and it very well could have been one of their favorites.
• 
  Charlotte

  Edward Lear has produced yet another rediculous (in a good way) book that children are sure to love. The nonsence words and the disorienting illustrations are sure to intrigue your child for multiple reads.
• 
  Paul Hankins

  Edward Lear's verse is brought to life by Louise Voce's illustrations. Share this one with younger readers looking for connecting poets/poems to modern masters like Shel Silverstein, Jack Prelutsky, J. Patrick Lewis, and a host of others.
• 
  The Brothers

  Few can turn out a rhyme like Edward Lear (of the Owl and the Pussy Cat fame). This time the Quangle Wangle is convinced that life is dull until a variety of animals come to make their homes on his wondrous hat.
  
  Good illustrations.
• 
  Skylar Burris

  Bizzare and nonsensical and vaguely endearing.
• 
  Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance

  What a joyous jumble of words! The pictures in this version by Janet Stevens add so much to the text.
• 
  Linda

  
  Giblin Eunson Libray / Melbourne Uni.
  Children’s Literature Award Winners (upper ground)
  
  1969 Greenaway Award (for illustrations) winner.
  
  Bringing Edward Lear’s fantastical poetry to life.
• 
  Jen

  I liked it, but it was a little over the top strange at times, and I had a hard time catching the rhythm of the poem. Maybe I'd like it better in subsequent reads.