Over and over Bartholomew tries to remove his hat with no success. The royal hat maker and royal wise men are consulted with no success. The king’s arrogant nephew tries to shoot the hat off with a bow and arrow and then the Yeoman of the Bowman tries with his larger bow, but Bartholomew still has a hat on his head. Will he ever run out of hats?
I can remember reading The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins when I was a child and it has been a favourite Dr Seuss story for my children as well. A longer, more detailed story than many of Seuss’ books, it has a wonderful sense of suspense as readers wonder whether Bartholomew will ever come to the end of his seemingly endless supply of hats.
Oceanhouse Media, Inc offers an ebook version of this classic Dr Seuss story. Children can listen to the story being read to them. There is a narrator recording with the ebook or parents or children can record their own voice reading the story. If narration is turned off, children can get help with words by tapping on them. Tapping on items in the illustrations will highlight this word (hat, King Derwin, wise man, etc) in the text, the word will appear on the screen near the illustration and it will be read out loud. These features can be activated or deactivated in an options menu.
Dr Seuss was an avid hat collector with fun hats in all shapes and sizes appearing in many of his stories. The recent release of The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins by Oceanhouse Media, Inc is part of the year-long ‘Hats off to Dr Seuss’ celebration.
Title: The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins
Author: Dr Seuss
Publisher: Oceanhouse Media, $2.99 RRP (iTunes)
Publication Date: February 2013
Format: ebook
For ages: 6 - 12 years
Type: ebook, picture book
