This Is Not My Hat

( 18 )

Overview

WINNER OF THE 2013 CALDECOTT MEDAL!

From the creator of the #1 New York Times best-selling and award-winning I Want My Hat Back comes a second wry tale.

When a tiny fish shoots into view wearing a round blue topper (which happens to fit him perfectly), trouble could be following close behind. So it’s a good thing that enormous fish won’t wake up. And even if he does, it’s not like he’ll ever know what happened. . . . Visual humor swims to the ...

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More About This Book

Overview

WINNER OF THE 2013 CALDECOTT MEDAL!

From the creator of the #1 New York Times best-selling and award-winning I Want My Hat Back comes a second wry tale.

When a tiny fish shoots into view wearing a round blue topper (which happens to fit him perfectly), trouble could be following close behind. So it’s a good thing that enormous fish won’t wake up. And even if he does, it’s not like he’ll ever know what happened. . . . Visual humor swims to the fore as the best-selling Jon Klassen follows his breakout debut with another deadpan-funny tale.

Winner of the 2013 Caldecott Medal

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Editorial Reviews

From Barnes & Noble

That fish seldom wear hats will not spoil the pleasures of Jon Klassen's new picture book. At its heart is a felonious little fish who has pilfered the blue topper of a much larger fish who appears to be slumbering. When the theft is detected, the smaller fish attempts to defend his larceny, but as the picture book ends, restitution seems at hand or, pardon, at flipper. A fine follow-up to the author's award-winning I Want My Hat Back.

Publishers Weekly
Like Klassen's very funny and much-praised I Want My Hat Back, this story involves a hat theft; this time, Klassen ups the ante by having the thief narrate. It's a small gray fish who has stolen a tiny bowler hat from a much larger fish ("It was too small for him anyway," the little fish sniffs. "It fits me just right"). Klassen excels at using pictures to tell the parts of the story his unreliable narrators omit or evade. "There is someone who saw me already," admits the little fish, about a goggle-eyed crab. "But he said he wouldn't tell anyone which way I went. So I am not worried about that." The spread tells another story; the crab betrays the small fish in a heartbeat, pointing to its hiding place, "where the plants are big and tall and close together." Readers hope for the best, but after the big fish darts in, only one of them emerges, sporting the hat. It's no surprise that the dominant color of the spreads is black. Tough times call for tough picture books. Ages 4–8. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Oct.)
From the Publisher
Klassen’s authorial debut, I WANT MY HAT BACK (2011), became one of the surprise picture-book hits of the year, and while it’s tempting to see this follow-up as a sequel, it’s really only related in its hat-theft theme, animal characters, deadpan humor, and a suggestively dark conclusion. . . . The simple, dramatic tension and macabre humor that’s right at a kid’s level of deviousness mesh splendidly with Klassen’s knack for tiny, telling details and knockout page turns. Who knew hat thievery was such a bottomless well?—Booklist (starred review)The eyes have it in Klassen’s latest hat book (I WANT MY HAT BACK). Klassen manages to tell almost the whole story through subtle eye movements and the tilt of seaweed and air bubbles. . . Darkly hilarious.—The Horn Book (starred review)Simplicity is key in both text and illustrations. The black underwater provides the perfect background for the mostly gray-toned fish and seaweed while the monochromatic palette strips the artwork down to essential, yet exquisite design. Movement is indicated with a trail of small white bubbles. This not-to-be-missed title will delight children again and again.—School Library Journal (starred review)Klassen excels at using pictures to tell the parts of the story his unreliable narrators omit or evade.—Publishers Weekly (starred review)Klassen combines spare text and art to deliver no small measure of laughs in another darkly comic haberdashery whodunit...Hats off!—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)This is, quite simply, an outstanding book—and that ain’t no fish tale.—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review)Absolutely gorgeous artwork (digitally assembled Chinese ink illustrations) and an utterly original voice in the picture book world.—Apartment Therapy
Children's Literature - Carrie Hane Hung
A little fish tells how he took a hat that belonged to a large fish that happened to be sleeping. The smaller fish thinks that the big fish will not notice that the hat is missing and that the little fish is responsible for taking the hat. However, the illustrations of the characters indicate just the opposite. The position of the large fish's eyes seems to show that he notices his hat is gone. Next, the little fish even attempts to justify his hat stealing by commenting how the hat suitably fits him. The large fish follows the little fish to recover the hat. The pictures and text infer that the larger fish chases the smaller one into a growth of underwater plants. Using the pictures, readers will need to make their own deductions as to how the problem of the hat is resolved. This story has a dark humor type of ending. Klassen also wrote and illustrated I Want My Hat Back in which a bear is seeking to find his missing hat. Reviewer: Carrie Hane Hung
School Library Journal
PreS-Gr 1—With this new creation, Klassen repeats the theme from I Want My Hat Back (Candlewick, 2011), but with a twist. The narrator here is the thief-a small, self-confident fish who has pilfered a little blue bowler from a big sleeping fish. He wastes no time or words in confessing his crime as he swims across the page announcing, "This hat is not mine. I just stole it." He continues his narrative with no regrets, but with a bit of rationalizing ("It was too small for him anyway.") as he swims to his hiding place, unaware that the big fish is in quiet pursuit. Readers, of course, are in on this little secret. When the two disappear into a spread filled with seaweed, the narration goes silent, and youngsters can easily surmise what happens as the big fish reemerges with the tiny blue bowler atop his head. Simplicity is key in both text and illustrations. The black underwater provides the perfect background for the mostly gray-toned fish and seaweed while the monochromatic palette strips the artwork down to essential, yet exquisite design. Movement is indicated with a trail of small white bubbles. This not-to-be-missed title will delight children again and again.—Carolyn Janssen, Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County, Cincinnati, OH
Kirkus Reviews
Klassen combines spare text and art to deliver no small measure of laughs in another darkly comic haberdashery whodunit. While not a sequel to I Want My Hat Back (2011), the story does include a hat, a thief (a little fish) and a wronged party (a big fish). This time, first-person narration follows the thief, whose ego far outstrips his size as he underestimates the big fish's tracking abilities. Meanwhile, much of the art follows the big fish on his hunt, creating a pleasing counterpoint with the text. For example, a page reading "…he probably won't notice that it's gone" shows not the thieving piscine narrator but the big fish looking up toward the top of his own bare head; he clearly has noticed that his hat is gone, and the chase is on! Sublime book design exploits the landscape format, with dogged movement from left to right across the double-page spreads. This culminates in a page reading "I knew I was going to make it," as the little fish disappears on the recto into plants evocative of Leo Lionni's setting in Swimmy (1963), while a narrow-eyed big fish enters the verso. The little fish is clearly doomed--a fact coyly confirmed by wordless page turns revealing the big fish swimming away, now from right to left, hat firmly on head. Hats off! (Picture book. 4-8)
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780763655990
  • Publisher: Candlewick Press
  • Publication date: 10/9/2012
  • Pages: 40
  • Sales rank: 854
  • Age range: 4 - 8 Years
  • Product dimensions: 8.14 (w) x 11.10 (h) x 0.38 (d)

Meet the Author

Jon Klassen

Jon Klassen is the creator of the 2012 Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Book and New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Children’s Book of the Year I Want My Hat Back. He is also the illustrator of Caroline Stutson’s Cats’ Night Out, winner of the prestigious Governor General’s Award for Illustration. Jon Klassen has worked as an illustrator for feature animated films, music videos, and editorial pieces. Originally from Niagara Falls, Ontario, he now lives in Los Angeles, California.

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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4
( 18 )
Rating Distribution

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(11)

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Sort by: Showing all of 18 Customer Reviews

  • Posted January 29, 2013

    Preview does not work. :(

    Preview does not work. :(

    8 out of 27 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted January 29, 2013

    I Also Recommend:

    Pale Rider
    High Plains Drifter
    Extra Yarn
    I Want My Hat Back

    Jon Klassen is an unassuming Canadian-born illustrator who claim

    Jon Klassen is an unassuming Canadian-born illustrator who claims he never wrote anything other than emails until his controversial picturebook bestseller, “I Want My Hat Back.” This year he followed up with a Caldecott Honor Book, "Extra Yarn," written by Mac Barnett, and the Caldecott Medal winner, “This Is Not My Hat.”

    Quite a hat trick indeed.

    To recap “I Want My Hat Back”: A polite bear in search of his lost hat interviews his forest neighbors, each of whom denies having seen it. Belatedly, the bear realizes the rabbit lied, exacts revenge and retrieves what’s his.

    The revenge takes place off-page but is apparently lethal. Hence the controversy.

    It would be funny if “This Is Not My Hat” were a sequel in which the bear discovers – oops – the hat he took from the rabbit wasn’t his hat after all. But in fact the more recent book is about fish.

    As the similar titles imply, though, it deals with similar issues, ones that will be familiar to any tyke that’s ever braved the wilds of preschool, or any fan of a Clint Eastwood western (think “Pale Rider” and “High Plains Drifter”) in which great wrong is avenged, the moral code upheld, and the universe returned to stasis.

    Here is the setup: Wearing a stolen bowler hat, a little beige fish makes his getaway through the inky black sea, all the while proclaiming guilelessly that he’s going to get away with his crime: “I know it’s wrong to steal a hat. I know it does not belong to me. But I am going to keep it.”

    Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the thief, the hat’s big-fish owner has awakened from his nap and … the chase is on!
    This apparently simple book is structurally complex. For example, the narrator is the bad guy, and if justice is to be served, he won’t be around to narrate anymore. How will the author pull this off?

    Indeed, the ending is mysterious. Something happens between the little fish and the big fish in the kelp forest. We don’t know what. What we know (spoiler alert!) is the narration has ceased, and the big fish has his hat back.

    Like the story, the illustrations are deceptively simple. With the tilt of a fish eye or the placement of an air bubble, Klassen conveys both motion and emotion. I also want to give him a shout-out for a crab that looks downright Eric Carle-esque, that plays a key role and serves as the literal bright spot in the appropriately subdued palette.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted May 12, 2013

    If you are not familiar with John Klassen's work yet, then I fee

    If you are not familiar with John Klassen's work yet, then I feel really sorry for you. There are few author/illustrators out there that are as brilliant as he is. I love every single one of his books. I have friends that buy his picture books even though they don't have kids.

    The text in This is Not My Hat is simple and humorous. The illustrations are likewise simple, but expressive. Klassen's style is unique and very entertaining. I cannot say enough good things about his books!

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 27, 2013

    Great Illustrations Awful Ending

    Illustrations were great. The ending of the book was awful and now that I was able to read the whole book, I can not give it as a gift as originally planned. Unfortunately online I was not able to read the whole book. This is the first and last time I buy a children's book without reading the whole thing. Very disappointed.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 14, 2013

    My first grade class loved this book.

    My first grade class loved this book.

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  • Posted March 1, 2013

    Recommended Highly

    My grandson loved following the fish with the stolen hat. He loved both the story and the illustrations. He is the best recommendation for this book.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 1, 2013

    charming and creative

    thr story tells of a little theif who thinks he is so smart and that his victim is a big slow moving dummy who won't miss his hat nor be able to find him- but he is sooooo wrong.
    the story is adorable and the illustrations are magical.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 22, 2013

    :Highly recommended.

    Written simply and artfully illustrated, perfect for the little one you want to teach about the inadvisability of taking something that isn't yours.

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  • Posted February 22, 2013

    Hats Off!

    I must admit, winners of the Caldecott Medal naturally grab my attention, which in this case caused me to buy the book sight unseen. Was I disappointed? Not in the least. The story is quite simple, the illustrations use mostly earth tones, yet both come together to create an engaging and enlightening story. I teach fourth grade, but I took it to school and shared it with a class of 20 kindergarten children. We discussed the actions of the small fish, the subsequent actions of the big fish, and which fish should have the hat. After the book, each student received a sheet with a drawing of both fish along with a separate drawing of one hat. Each child then decided which fish deserved the hat. Each child made an independent decision and glued the hat to one fish. They were then free to color the fish using their own styles. Incidentally, the big fish was an overwhelming favorite to wear the hat.

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  • Posted January 29, 2013

    What a great book!

    What a great book!

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  • Posted January 29, 2013

    I Also Recommend:

    This Is Not My Hat

    This is one of the funniest picture books I have ever read. Supe

    This is one of the funniest picture books I have ever read. Super cleaver illustrtions. Jon Klassen has a wonderful career ahead of him for sure :)

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    Posted March 1, 2013

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    Posted March 10, 2013

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    Posted January 29, 2013

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    Posted February 23, 2013

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