The Hat is a children's book written and illustrated by French artist and author Tomi Ungerer. Published in 1970 by Parents' Magazine Press, the book tells the story of a poor veteran, Benito Badoglio, who becomes rich after he unwittingly gains possession of a magic flying top hat. The book is richly illustrated and the text contains numerous vivid and mellifluous descriptions and dialog. For example, upon meeting the top hat, the protagonist cries, "Thunder of Sebastopole!"; in another scene, he shouts, "A thousand Potemkins!" Other characters in the book are "cutthroats", "brigands", a "fainting contessa", and a "dashing cadet". The author's interest in such colorful prose was explained by Selma G. Lanes in the Atlantic Monthly: "Ungerer feels strongly that children enjoy unfamiliar words and euphonious, mystifying phrases." The setting for The Hat is nineteenth century Italy, and was described by Sydney D. Long in the Horn Book Magazine as "a never-never land ..., the comic-opera pictures of The Hat are full of mandolin-playing musicians, splashing fountains, and apple-cheeked peasant lasses."The book ends much as it begins, with the migration of the top hat from one prosperous owner to one of more dire circumstances. This cyclic plot device suggests the magic top hat has led previous owners to similar changes of fate, and may continue to do so into the future. The book was published by French publisher L'école des loisirs in 1971 under a title of slightly different meaning: Le Chapeau Volant (The Flying Hat). The book was made into a film by Weston Woods in 1982. It was adapted, designed, and directed by Gene Deitch. Source: Wikipedia (en)