Uncle Wiggily's Silk Hat: Or, a Tall Silk Hat May Be Stylish and Also Useful; And How Uncle Wiggily Brought Home Company Without Telling Nurse Jane; Also How Uncle Wiggily Tried to Make Salt Water Taffy

Uncle Wiggily, a dignified rabbit gentleman in his tall silk hat, proves that style and usefulness can walk paw in paw through one whimsical adventure after another. When the goat gentleman Uncle Butter scoffs at the bunny's fancy headwear, questioning what possible use such a stylish thing could be, Uncle Wiggily merely twinkles his pink nose and sets out to demonstrate. The hat becomes milk-saver when Susie Littletail's milk cart tips, becomes a bailing bucket when a leaky boat threatens to sink, becomes a receptacle for lost items and a solution to every minor catastrophe that befalls the woodland creatures. These are gentle, episodic tales where kindness and cleverness interweave without ever feeling like lessons. Garis writes with a light touch that lets the absurdity of a rabbit gentleman in formal attire solving problems with his hat speak for itself. The book endures because it captures something eternal about childhood: the belief that imagination can transform the ordinary into the extraordinary, and that looking respectable while solving problems is its own small delight.