What’s In That Hat?

A magician proudly pulls a rabbit out of his hat. This is followed by two elephants, three badgers, four seals, five owls, six monkeys, seven goats, eights squirrels, nine frogs and ten ducks. Suddenly, the whole book is full of animals. And what’s going on with the hat? Will the poor magician ever get it back?

For ‘What’s In That Hat?’ celebrated graphic novelist and illustrator Judith Vanistendael joins forces with typesetter and graphic designer Peter De Roy. The two use basic wooden blocks designed by De Roy to create woodcuts of the magician and the numbers. Vanistendael conjures up the animals in coloured pencil. The end result is a seemingly simple, but ingenious numbers book. Prints of the individual woodcuts that were combined to make the magician and the numbers grace the back cover, showing just how creative the authors are. A fun and delightful little book.