Milo's Hat Trick

A round of applause for Scallywag Press for making this classic from Jon Agee newly available. Conjurer Milo the Magnificent is sadly anything but magnificent and when he botches another performance, the theatre manager issues an ultimatum: pull a rabbit from a hat, or else. Searching for a rabbit in the woods, Milo instead comes across a bear, a bear who happens to know how the hat trick works (he learned it from a rabbit). The story takes off in a typically unexpected, even surreal direction but is wonderfully orderly too, and Milo, with and without his bear assistant, becomes magnificent indeed. Agee’s pacing, delivery and all-round comic-timing are superb, and his illustrations have a drama all of their own, despite his deadpan delivery.