When Eloise needs a new hat, she looks for one all over thehotel, trying on lampshades, the chef's hat, and the bell captain'shat, but Nanny does not like any of her choices.
Kay Thompson (1909-1998) was a singer, dancer, vocal arranger,and coach of many MGM musicals in the 1940s.
The Eloise character grew out of the voice of a precocioussix-year-old that Miss Thompson put on to amuse her friends.Collaborating with Hilary Knight on what was an immediatebestseller, Kay Thompson became a literary sensation when Eloisewas published in 1955. The book has sold more than two millioncopies to date. Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight created four moreEloise books, Eloise in Paris, Eloise at Christmas, Eloise inMoscow, and Eloise Takes a Bawth.
Hilary Knight, son of artist-writers Clayton Knight and KatharineSturges, was educated at the Art Students League, where he studiedwith Reginald Marsh. Besides the Eloise books, Hilary Knight hasillustrated more than fifty books for children, six of which hewrote himself.
He lives and works in New York City, not far from The PlazaHotel.
