The Hatmakers

When the various Maker families have lost their trust in each other it's left up to the kids to break the barrier and solve the mysteries. Cordelia's father is lost at sea, the King is behaving oddly, there is concern of war between England and France, and the Maker's homes are being robbed of precious and malicious items. Cordelia Hatmaker and her friends set out to solve the mysteries, catch the thief, avoid a war, and not loose hope. This story is fun to read and builds in excitement as it goes. I read this to my grand children (ages 7-15 yrs old) as our summer reading book and we all enjoyed it. A fun read for any age.

I bought The Hatmakers and The Mapmakers for my third grader. When they arrived I started reading the first chapter of The Hatmakers and couldn’t put it down! I finished it that night and immediately started on The Mapmakers. I’m a huge Harry Potter fan, and am excited to have found another magical series to share with my own children. The world Tamzin Merchant has created is incredibly interesting and wonderful. Cordelia Hatmaker is a kind and brave heroine that I’m happy for my children to get to know. I’m recommending these books to my local library so other children can experience the magic! Hoping for more in the series!

Wow! This book is phenomenal! It is magical, whimsical, full of adventure, enchanting, intriguing, full of twists and turns, and so much more! Whenever I picked up "The Hatmakers", I was whisked away on a magical adventure with this story!This is the first book I have read by Tamzin Merchant, and it absolutely will not be my last. Her writing style is visceral, moving, powerful, gripping, and so much more. The world she has created in her story truly comes to life before the reader's eyes, and all of her characters feel like such incredibly real people. Some you will absolutely love from the beginning, some will grow on you, and some...I will simply say...UGH! I can only imagine the amount of thought Ms. Merchant must have put into her novel, as every moment helps to push the plot forward in one way or another, and Ms. Merchant's love for writing, to me, is so absolutely clear.Cordelia Hatmaker is such a kind, brave, intelligent, loving, and warm-hearted young lady who wants the best for those she cares about most. She lives in a society full of "makers", people who make various aspects of clothing to help those in need. While they can do good, if used incorrectly, the power that is used can do much harm. When Cordelia is told her father has gone missing at sea and is presumed dead, she believes with all of her heart that he is still alive out there somewhere. This sets into motion a series of events which will lead Cordelia and her friends to help save those she cares about most, and not everything, or everyone, is as they seem. Will Cordelia and her friends be able to save the day before it is too late? Is there any chance Cordelia's father is really alive? You will just have to read to find out!I listened to the audiobook of this novel! Tamzin Merchant, in addition to writing the book, also narrates the audiobook, and she is absolutely incredible! She breaths such passion into each word, and makes the story jump right off of the page! Her intonations, accents, pacing, and storytelling are truly breathtaking, and I enjoyed every moment.I highly recommend this book! I am so eagerly awaiting, what I hope will be, many more books continuing this story.

"Keep wildness in your wits and magic in your fingertips." ✨I picked up The Hatmakers because I wanted a cute and cozy middle grade book to read this season, and it was much more than that.The Hatmakers really impressed me. We get lovable characters, Makers who weave magic and intentions into their crafts, beautiful writing, and a mystery for our main characters to solve. Certain scenes were hilarious, the plot was exciting, and the whole book has left a big smile on my face.There’s also a cliffhanger at the end that makes me want to pick up the next book. I absolutely recommend this if you’re interested in reading a fun and magical middle grade book.

What a delightfully magical read! I had such a great time, & I’m so sad I don’t have more in my hands to read right now! Lol Cordelia comes from a long line of magical hatmakers, who weave alchemy & enchantment into every hat. In Cordelia's world, Making - crafting items such as hats, cloaks, watches, boots & gloves from magical ingredients - is a rare & ancient skill, & only a few special Maker families remain.When Cordelia's father Prospero & his ship are lost at sea during a mission to collect hat ingredients, Cordelia is determined to find him. But Uncle Tiberius & Aunt Ariadne have no time to help the littlest Hatmaker, for an ancient rivalry b/n the Maker families is threatening to surface. Worse, someone seems to be using Maker magic to start a war. She has to find out who & why. I loved the magic system in this-all the different types of Makers & their families. I loved the backstory of the Maker families as well. The mystery was also such a great aspect. So much adventure too. The friendship b/n Cordelia & Goose(Bootmaker)is pretty much forbidden, & they have to hide their friendship. I loved the dynamic b/n the 2 of them, & also Sam-who was such a great character. Quite a few twists & turns I really enjoyed too. All the details of the magic, the Makers, & everything the villain was doing, was amazingly done. The ending was so good! It has me so eager for book 2! Absolutely stunning cover & beautiful illustrations sprinkled throughout by Paola Escobar too! Highly recommend! “Keep wildness in your wits & magic in your fingertips....”💜

I would give this 3.5 stars. I really liked the premise of this story but unfortunately, it didn’t quite meet my expectations. I still very much enjoyed the idea of the Makers and their respective trades but the plot was a bit too jumbled for me. I wish the author would have run with the father’s disappearance a bit more. The ending may have been the tiny bit of suspense needed to get me to read the sequel. We’ll see.

Libro molto bello, la storia prende in fretta e subito si vuole continuare la lettura per scoprire come prosegue la storia.Ho acquistato la versione in lingua originale per poter migliorare la lingua e nonostante sia un libro molto easy in realtà aiuta abbastanza a perfezionare l'inglese, con l'aiuto di qualche chicca o qualche gioco di parole meno comune nei libri di testo.Consigliato.

Cordelia Hatmaker comes from a long line of ... yep, Hatmakers. In fact, she is, at present, the last in line to take over the prestigious family business because only a well chosen few can become makers. Cordelia is devastated when her family is told her father's ship has gone down with no survivors, and all the special, rare finds to be used in the making of their magical hats have been lost.Unable to believe the news, Cordelia is determined to hunt for her father herself as everyone else has dressed in black to begin a period of mourning. Before she can make her plans, however, something far more dangerous begins to unfold, and as the situation threatens to destroy all she holds dear, Cordelia realises it's be up to her to save the day.This is a fun read. The characters are engagingly eccentric, there are surprises and clues threaded together, and as everything is gradually revealed, the storyline works throughout. With a sneak peak at the beginning of book two, it's clear Cordelia has further mysteries to solve in this exciting new series.I enjoyed and happily recommend it.

Purchased for granddaughter's birthday. She hasn't started reading it yet but seemed pleased!

My girls (13 and 9) and I loved this book, I read it to them as a bedtime story. A wonderful story that takes you on an adventure from the beginning and leaves you wanting to go on the next. Beautiful writing for this age group, great characters, just wonderful. So glad I chose it, too many books for this age group are just 'too dark' to read for bedtime. A whole series to look forward to too. Thank you Tamzin.

After the reported demise of Captain Hatmaker at sea, the Hatmaker family mourns their loss, except his daughter Cordelia Hatmaker, who refuses to believe it is true and promises to find him. At the same time, England is on the brink of war with France. The maker families, like Cordelia’s, make magical garments of clothing and are tasked by the King to make clothing that’ll prevent war.There are five ‘maker’ families - clockmakers, bootmakers , Hatmakers, watchmakers and glove makers - who after a scandalous event decades before the story picks up, are all suspicious of each other if not sworn enemies.The Hatmakers is a clever, entertaining and humorous read. It’s a journey of magic that’s sure to delight. I was giggling one moment and then ‘wow-ing’ in the next. The cast of characters were likeable, the setting was rich, and together they truly made me feel transported to another world and another time with their dialogue, types of fashions and so much more.I was thrilled by how enjoyable the mystery plot was in addition to the magic. I like how the author used a clearly foreseeable plot move to disguise an unpredictable plot twist within it. So it’s fair to say the story not only engages imaginations, but the capacity and desire to play detective in solving who’s up to no good.The magic was exciting and kept me hooked; I loved learning the history of the Makers and I’m eager to discover more in future sequels. It was a nice touch for the author to include footnotes throughout the story explaining the importance of particular making ingredients, it made it all the more magical and wondrous.The book is littered with beautiful illustrations to make the story leap from the pages like magic itself. It’s a great read I have no doubt will be a hit with many children, of all ages. Tamzin Merchant did a great job narrating the audiobook as well, providing different voices for different characters and brilliantly dramatising both the hilarious scenes and the more sinister ones. Thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed this. I can’t wait for the sequels!