Mod 3: This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen

Summary:

This is Not My Hat is a Caldecott award winning picture book written and Illustrated by Jon Klassen that tells the story of a little fish who steals a much bigger fish’s bowler hat.  The little fish is convinced he will get away with the crime despite understanding that it was the wrong thing to do.  He spends most of the story swimming away from the scene of his crime while explaining that the big fish will not wake up, notice the hat missing, or be able to find him.  The images however show the big fish waking up, and instantly knowing his hat is missing and searching for the little fish.  The little fish is convinced he can hide in the long kelp and that the crab who sees him will not tell on him.  He is wrong and the crab tells the big fish where to find the thief and he follows him into the long grass.  The next image shows the big fish returning from the long grass with his hat and the little fish is not seen again, the implication being that the bigger fish ate him. 

Klassen, J. (2012). This is not my hat. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press

My Impressions:

I love this story and it’s simplistic art style.  The minimalist backgrounds, which is mostly just black with the occasional bubbles or seaweed help to not distract from the story, which is told just as much with pictures as it is with the words. This story is very fun and has a bit of a darker ending than most children books with the little fish dying in the end, but I feel it works very well with the story and really hammers home the message that there are consequences to actions such as stealing (possibly with some explanation of how animals do things as opposed to people).

Reviews:

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

School Library Journal. (2012).  Pick of the Day This is Not My Hat [Review of the Book This is Not My Hat, by Jon Klassen].  School Library Journal Website.  Retrived from http://www.slj.com/2012/09/reviews/pick-of-the-day/pick-of-the-day-this-is-not-my-hat/

Usage in a Library Setting:

This would be great for a story time book, possibly alongside Jon Klassen’s Other book I Want my Hat Back, where there could be discussion about what it feels like to have something taken from you and how this behavior hurts people, and possibly what the thief could have done differently if they wanted the hat.