The Hat

by Jan Brett

Overview

November 1997

With more than 12 million books in print, Jan Brett is unquestionably one of the world's top author-illustrators. Now she has created a tale sure to please her loyal fans and destined to draw in legions of new ones. The Hat is a delightful story with a strong Scandinavian influence, told as much through Brett's illustrations as through her words.

In The Hat, a little hedgehog, appropriately named Hedgie, finds himself stuck a stocking, which has blown off the clothesline. As the barnyard animals laugh and poke fun at Hedgie's new "hat," Hedgie convinces them that everyone needs a winter hat to keep warm as the cold months approach.

When Lisa, the clothing's owner, realizes that her stocking is missing, she tracks down Hedgie to take it back, only to discover that all the animals in the farm are now wearing clothing articles from her clothesline! In the end, Lisa has to run around the farm, retrieving her clothes from the animals.

Brett fans will not be surprised that the author's real-life pet hedgehog, Buffy, inspired The Hat: One morning, after searching and searching, Brett and her husband were amused to discover that Buffy had climbed into a slipper sock and was unable to get out because of her spines. A trip to Denmark and the sight of its beautiful scenery was also an influence on the book, which features colorful illustrations, subplots played out in the pages' borders, and all the distinctive elements that Brett fans -- both children and adults -- love so much.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780399234613
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	10/04/1999
Pages:	34
Sales rank:	42,532
Product dimensions:	6.25(w) x 5.00(h) x 0.72(d)
Lexile:	540L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 Months to 3 Years

About the Author

With over thirty four million books in print, Jan Brett is one of the nation's foremost author illustrators of children's books. Jan lives in a seacoast town in Massachusetts, close to where she grew up. During the summer her family moves to a home in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts.

As a child, Jan Brett decided to be an illustrator and spent many hours reading and drawing. She says, "I remember the special quiet of rainy days when I felt that I could enter the pages of my beautiful picture books. Now I try to recreate that feeling of believing that the imaginary place I'm drawing really exists. The detail in my work helps to convince me, and I hope others as well, that such places might be real."

As a student at the Boston Museum School, she spent hours in the Museum of Fine Arts. "It was overwhelming to see the room-size landscapes and towering stone sculptures, and then moments later to refocus on delicately embroidered kimonos and ancient porcelain," she says. "I'm delighted and surprised when fragments of these beautiful images come back to me in my painting."

Travel is also a constant inspiration. Together with her husband, Joe Hearne, who is a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Jan visits many different countries where she researches the architecture and costumes that appear in her work. "From cave paintings to Norwegian sleighs, to Japanese gardens, I study the traditions of the many countries I visit and use them as a starting point for my children's books."

Read an Excerpt

The Hat

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By Jan Brett

Putnam Publishing Group

Copyright © 1997 Jan Brett
All right reserved.
ISBN: 0399231013

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Chapter One

Winter was coming. Lisa took out her warm clothes.

She was hanging them up when the wind blew away one of her socks.

Hedgie found it, poked his nose in and got stuck. Oh no! he thought. I'll never get this off.

"Cackle, cackle," the mother hen said. "What's that thing on your head, Hedgie?"

"Why, it's my new hat," he sniffed. "Oh," said the mother hen. And off she ran.

"Honk! Honk! Ho, ho," the gander laughed. "Laugh, Gander. But when it rains, my hat will keep me dry."

Hmmm, the gander thought. And off he ran.

"Meow," the barn cat called down. "You look funny today, Hedgie." "Maybe, but I will be warm in the snow." "Ah ha ..." purred the cat. And off he ran.

"Is that you in a hat, Hedgie?" the farm dog barked.

"Why not? It's very cozy," he said.

Her ears perked up. "Woof! Woof!" And off she ran.

"Oink! Oink!" the mama pig squeled. "What are you up to, Hedgie?"

"Making sure my hat doesn't blow off." "I see," said the mama pig. And off she ran.

"You look ridiculous, Hedgie!" the pony snorted.

"Why? Shouldn't everyone wear a hat in the ice and snow?"

Good idea! the pony thought. And off he ran.

Hedgie just wanted to be alone.

Everyone was laughing at him with this thing on his head.

Even Lisa was running after him. "Stop!" She wanted her sock back.

"Oh, no," Hedgie said. "Now the girl is laughing at me too!"

Continues...

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Excerpted from The Hat by Jan Brett Copyright © 1997 by Jan Brett. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Interviews

Before the live bn.com chat, Jan Brett agreed to answer some of our questions:

Q:  What was it like painting at the annual Easter Egg Roll at the White House?

A:  It was a great sense of history to be there, and it makes you feel like you are in touch with children who might not normally be reading children's books. I met a lot of children who had never met an illustrator before. A lot of kids would come by my easel, and they would see me painting on it. It was great for them to see how much time and thought that it takes to draw. I think they could sense how happy I am when I do it. Just like Tom Sawyer painting his fence.

Q:  What type of artistic or literary research did you do for The Hat?

A:  I went to Denmark and spent ten days there. During the ten days, we stayed in a 400-year-old inn with a thatched roof and a lot of the animals that appear in the book. We stayed on the island of Fuenan, the middle island of Denmark. The light was also beautiful. I didn't use any black in the book -- all the dark colors are a mixture. Going to a place gives you details that you might not ever imagine.

Q:  What are a few of your favorite museums?

A:  The Louvre in Paris. It is so amazing that I would say that I haven't accepted it mentally. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is also one of my personal favorites. I went to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston as almost a second home, having gone to art school there; we had a free pass, and I went there all the time. A folk museum in Oslo, Norway -- it had a collection of carved sleighs that brought me to my knees. These sleighs were beautiful. Another time I was moved was in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. There were these horse sculptures discovered at the bottom of the ocean -- they were just found in the '20s. Another personal favorite is in Bad Tölz, Germany, which is where I found the cart for Berlioz the Bear.

Q:  Who would you list as your artistic influences? What about literary influences?

A:  Beatrix Potter is definitely one. Her books were some of the few books that I read and felt like I wasn't being talked down to. She put some difficult words that I never knew in her books, but in the context, I understood them. She valued the reader, and I felt like I had a new word that I learned. I loved to collect new words when I was a child, and Potter made this possible.

Q:  At what point did you realize that you wanted to illustrate and write children's books?

A:  I know that I was about six, but I don't know if it was because I was drawing all the time or because I was practicing it all the time and people kept on telling me that I should draw for children's books.... What I drew looked like it came from a children's book: With a children's book there is always a before and an after. Of course, at the time, I thought I didn't have to study, which was a big mistake. I have done a lot of traveling, which I have used to make up for a lot of lost time.

Editorial Reviews

In this agreeable companion to The Mitten, a Scandinavian girl prepares for winter's arrival by hanging her woolens out to air. When a red-and-white patterned sock falls from the line and gets stuck on his prickles, a hedgehog (who bears the too-cute name of Hedgie) acquires a curious-looking hat. Various farmyard animals mock him, but when Hedgie explains that his new headgear will protect him from the impending snowfall, they are inspired to search out similar garb. Leaving a more lasting impression than this sparse plot, Brett's signature art introduces animal characters as endearing and expressive as those who congregated in her earlier book's expandable white mitten. The format here is familiar as well: the artist frames her double-page pictures with broad borders depicting additional goings-on that hint at the tale's outcome. As before, Brett demonstrates an expert eye for color, rendering the child's embroidered coat and lush, patterned knits in vivid primary hues that pop boldly from the cool, subdued tones of the northern winter landscape and sky. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

PreS-Gr 3A clever and appealing picture book. In preparation for cold weather, Lisa takes her winter clothes out of their storage chest and hangs them up in the fresh air. A strong wind blows one of her knit socks off the line. A hedgehog sticks his head inside, and it becomes stuck on his quills. When a hen, goose, cat, dog, pig, and horse laugh at his appearance, he tries to salvage his dignity by telling each one that his new hat will keep him dry, warm, and cozy throughout the winter. Finally, Lisa finds him and removes her sock, telling him that animals don't wear clothing. But when she goes back to the clothesline, she sees all of the animals wearing her gloves, sweaters, and scarves on their heads. Brett's illustrations are done in her trademark style of highly detailed depictions of her characters and a creative use of borders. Contained within them are small illustrations foreshadowing what will happen next. Shades of grays and greens capture the chilly autumn landscape. Against this background, the earthy colors of the animals and the deep red of Lisa's sock make a stark contrast. The pictures, story, and subject matter make this a natural for sharing aloud. And while very young children may need to have the humor of Hedgie's predicament explained to them, the book's appeal will be broad.Denise Anton Wright, Illinois State University, Normal

School Library Journal

In a companion book to Brett's The Mitten (1989), a little girl decides to unpack her winter woolens from their decorated chest and hang them out on a line to air before winter comes. The format is the same as that of the first book, with a large main illustration on each page and window frames showing other action occurring at the same time. A curious hedgehog puts his head into a fallen stocking, and—because of his prickles—can't get unstuck. Hedgie encounters other animals, each of whom wants to know about the stuck sock; the hedgehog gives several reasons for its presence: It's a beautiful hat, it will keep him dry, it will keep his ears warm, etc. Each animal runs off with a mission—culling clothes from the line to wear. Throughout, the girl reads, watches out the window, spies the entangled hedgehog, frees him, and tells him that animals don't wear clothes. The satisfying story celebrates the cozy hearth, home, and barnyard of picturesque Scandinavian country life, frozen in time. Brett's somber tones of pre-winter are enlivened by the intricate, colorful clothing; her fine, independent heroine is in charge of the story, and the inventive little hedgehog triumphs as well.

Kirkus Reviews

"A clever and appealing picture book . . . . Brett's illustrations are done in her trademark style of highly detailed depictions of her characters and a creative use of borders. . . . The pictures, story, and subject matter make this a natural for sharing aloud."—School Library Journal


"In a companion book to Brett's The Mitten (1989), a little girl decides to unpack her winter woolens from their decorated chest and hang them out on a line to air before winter comes. . . . The satisfying story celebrates the cozy hearth, home, and barnyard of picturesque Scandinavian country life, frozen in time. Brett's somber tones of pre-winter are enlivened by the intricate, colorful clothing; her fine, independent heroine is in charge of the story, and the inventive little hedgehog triumphs as well."—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher