Jennie’s Hat by Ezra Jack Keats, 1966.

When Jennie’s aunt tells her that she’s going to send her a new hat as a present, Jennie is excited.  She imagines that her new hat is going to be big and fancy and covered with flowers.  However, when the hat arrives, it’s just a very plain, ordinary hat with a single ribbon.

Even though her mother thinks the new hat is nice, Jennie wishes for something fancier, more unusual.  She tries on various other things, like a basket, a lampshade, and a pot to see how they would be as hats.  Of course, none of them really work.

Jennie has a habit of feeding the birds, and while she’s coming home after feeding them one day, she wishes out loud that her hat could be fancier.

Her bird friends, hearing her wish, decide to help her.  The next day, as she is leaving church, they bring her the things she’s been wishing for so that she can have the hat of her dreams!

The best part of the story is Jennie’s friendship with the birds and how they repay her for feeding them.  The pictures of all the amazing things they give her for her hat are fun, too!

I also liked the unusual artwork style.  Jennie’s clothes are often a cutout of a patterned piece of paper, while the rest of her body is drawn in.