This is Not My Hat By Jon Klassen

This is Not My Hat

Written and Illustrated By Jon Klassen

http://www.hbook.com/2012/09/choosing-books/reviews/review-of-this-is-not-my-hat/

Accessed September 11th, 2013

Klassen, Jon. 2012. This is Not My Hat. Ill. by Jon Klassen. Somerville, Mass: Candlewick Press. ISBN 9780763655990

Summary

A Cheeky little fish steals a hat from a big fish. Sure the hat was just the little fish’s size, sure the big fish was sleeping, and sure the crab who witnessed the theft said he wouldn’t give the little fish away…but the tall grass the little fish is headed for might not be the safe haven he thinks it is! The big fish wants his hat back!

Critical Analysis

Jon Klassen acts out some of the most human impulses that are universally experienced by people everywhere; jealousy and vengeance. And while the vast majority of children’s picture books steer clear of these dark topics, Klassen dives right in with humor and cheek. In This is Not My Hat, Klassen demonstrates a worst-case scenario that paints a pretty grim outcome for the very child centric impulse to take what you want.  The little fish main character in This is Not My Hat tells the audience right off the bat that he stole a hat from a big fish. Not only did the little fish steal, but he knew stealing was wrong and he did it anyway and this audacious little fish thinks he will get away with his dastardly deed – but doesn’t! The absurdity of this tale allows us to laugh at the situation these two fish (and one crab) find themselves in, but the process is strikingly similar to many courtroom dramas. The perpetrator wants something, thinks they can get away with it so they steal it, accomplice or witness to the crime squeals to the cops and the cops (or perhaps in the case of the big fish, vigilante) swoops in and takes back what whatever was stolen. Moral of the story? Let sleeping fish lie!

Klassen’s illustrations immediately reflect the dark humor of this story with a deep, black background and cool color combinations. The cartoonish drawings help to relieve the story of excess stress and help create some distance between the real world and the world of this picture book. Much of the humor of this book comes from Klassen’s subtle illustration of eye movements, bubble streams and incriminating action. As soon as the reader sees the big fish narrow his eyes after discovering his hat is gone – you know the little fish is up a creek!

Reviews

New York Times Book Review

Any picture book needs to bridge the worlds of adult and child, whether they are the tucker and the tucked in or the experienced reader and the sounder-outer. The negotiations between what grown-ups and children want, and between what adults are familiar with and children are still apprehending, provide the tension that makes children’s books possible. Whether puttering along with Little Tug on the surface or swimming with the fish in the dark below, we’re all in this water together.

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, OHα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Awards

2012 Caldecott Award

Connections

There are light fluffy picture books and then there are those rare picture books that give hints to the darker side of human nature. This is Not My Hat gives the reader a humorous look at the consequences of blatantly doing something you know to be wrong. Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs is another tale that illustrates the consequences of acting foolishly. In Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs, Goldilocks blithely waltzes into another strange house and, without asking, begins to eat and use everything within her grasp – until she realizes that the whole house is a trap set up by hungry dinos! Pairing these two hilarious tales story tellers get to provide a sterner moral than many picture books – but a moral that garners laughs with every turn of the page.

References

Janssen, Carolyn. “Review for This is Not My Hat.” School Library Journal (2012) Accessed 09/11/2013 http://www.amazon.com/This-Is-Not-My-Hat/dp/0763655996/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378960721&sr=8-1&keywords=this+is+not+my+hat

Sutton, Roger. “Swimmies; Little Tug and This is Not My Hat.” New York Times (2012) Accessed 09/11/2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/11/books/review/little-tug-and-this-is-not-my-hat.html?_r=0

Willems, Mo. 2012. Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs. Ill by Mo Willems. New York, NY: Harper Collins. ISBN 9780062104182