Review by Booklist Review
This charmer of a picture book makes a strong case for the existence of unicorns by juxtaposing a skeptical narrator with the action of the story itself. The pictures, done in pen and ink and watercolor, suggest the horse country of the Southwest, with the soft shades and outlines shifting easily into a magical landscape. It's here that the reader meets a horse wearing a red top hat. The narrator dismisses the idea that this might be a unicorn wearing the hat as a disguise, arguing that the horse may be having a bad hair day, or shielding its eyes from the sun. Meanwhile, the horse travels over the countryside trailing sparkles, flowers, and butterflies before being joined by two equine companions: one wearing a conical chapeau, the other sporting a cowboy hat. Their journey ends in a purplish landscape with castle-like turrets. At last, the hats come off, but the creatures appear in dusky silhouette, leaving it up to the reader to decide what's creating the shadowy points on their foreheads. A fun take on belief and magic.--Connie Fletcher Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
"Hey, look-it's a horse in a hat," opens this irreverent picture book from Murguia (I Feel Five!). But what begins as a casual observation turns quickly into a guessing game, as the narrator invites readers to wonder what that hat might be hiding-perhaps a unicorn horn? As the horse trots off on a journey through various landscapes, the narrator poses plausible reasons for the smart red chapeau: it's hiding messy hair; it's providing a nice sun shade or rain cover. But doubt creeps in: wouldn't the horse take off its hat when it sits down to tea? Maybe there is something to hide after all. When the hat comes off, a parade of clever optical tricks position the horse in front of hornlike grasses, slender towers, and sharp mountain peaks, keeping readers wondering what creature they're looking at. With its minimal text and wry visual jokes, this playful offering offers good fun. Ages 3-7. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Review by Horn Book Review
A dubious narrator spends much of the book explaining that a horse in a red hat is not a unicorn. "That's ridiculous. / It's just a horse...who woke up with messy hair." When the hat is eventually removed, readers may momentarily wonder if what looks like a horn is really the snow-capped mountain peak in the background... Murguia's playful narrative and soft watercolors cleverly encourage the reader's imagination. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Is it a unicorn or a horse in a hat? It's up to readers to decide! A matter-of-fact narrator presents all the reasons why a "horse in a hat" is really just that. It couldn't possibly be a unicorn. Or could it? As the "horse" trots along, readers will notice other "horses" in the scenery, their headsand, more importantly, what could possibly be their hornsobfuscated by some detail (a rock, a tree, etc.). Readers may side with the narrator, but soon, the visual evidence seems to contradict the verbal. Even the narrator waffles in their certainty. When a page turn reveals abandoned "horse" hats, the mystery is almost solved. Or is it? Though "horns" clearly crown the "horses' " heads in subsequent spreads, they could also be a part of the background (a spire, blades of grass, etc.). The final conclusion in the debate ultimately rests on the readers' own deductive reasoning. As coy as Jon Klassen, Murguia is a master of subtlety. The interplay between narration and illustration proves the unreliability of the senses, sharing just enough to keep the magic (and doubt) alive. Murguia's muted pen-and-ink-and-watercolor illustrations, presented almost entirely on double-page spreads, create a lush cartoon world. Careful readers might notice a final hint in the form of a lizard that just might be a dragona brilliant punctuation mark to this open-ended story. Spellbinding read-aloud gold. (Picture book. 3-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
