Cordelia comes from a long line of magical milliners, who weave alchemy and enchantment into every hat. In Cordelia’s world, Making – crafting items such as hats, cloaks, watches, boots and gloves from magical ingredients – is a rare and ancient skill, and only a few special Makers families remain.
When Cordelia’s father Prospero and his ship, the Jolly Bonnet, are lost at sea during a mission to collect hat ingredients, Cordelia is determined to find him. But uncle Tiberius and Aunt Ariadne have no time to help the littlest Hatmaker, for an ancient rivalry between the Maker families is threatening to surface. Worse, someone seems to be using Maker magic to start a war.
It’s up to Cordelia to find out who, and why…
Genre: Children and Teenage/ Fiction/ Middle Grade
Age appropriate: 8+
Number of Pages: 384 pages
Date of Publication: 18/02/2021
Author/Illustrator/Publisher:
The author of this book is Tamzin Merchant and the book is beautiful illustrated by is Paola Escobar.
The publisher is Penguin Random House Children’s UK.
Rating: 5/5
Review:
A magical, funny and well written middle grade book. This enchanting story will enthral you from the beginning to the end and is a book that anyone can enjoy.
The story takes place in an alternate London in the 18th century. The places, the characters and their personalities are very well described and the storytelling will definitely transport you to this magical world. Every single character in the book brings something special to the story and all of them have very unique personalities and are full of surprises. The story also comes with very unexpected villains and their motives for being bad are well written and very well thought out. There are so many twists and turns in the story that it will keep anyone intrigued.
The ending is excellent and I can’t wait to read the sequel.
At the end of the book there is a glossary of some magical ingredients for an apprentice hatmaker and also with some empty pages where you can be able to add you own ingredients which is a really nice touch for children. The inside cover and dust jacket of the book are both stunning. I am so in love with them and they truly reflect the story as well as match the style of the illustrations that are inside the book.
I also love how friendship plays a very important part in the story and really enjoyed all of the life lessons in the book. I have to say that I literally couldn’t put this book down and I found myself hiding from everyone so I would be able to finish it quicker.
Availability: The book is available in all good bookshops.
Shelf Life 
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