This is not my hat

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown Kids Books 4-week checkout	E KLA	4-week checkout	On Hold Shelf
Downtown Kids Books 4-week checkout	E KLA	4-week checkout	Due 05-07-2024
Downtown Kids Reference 0-week checkout	R Caldecott Medal 2013	0-week checkout	Library Use Only

A tiny minnow wearing a pale blue bowler hat has a thing or two up his fins in this underwater light-on-dark chase scene.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

School Library Journal Review
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Summary / Annotation
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Author Notes

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Very well done submitted by yugure on March 2, 2013, 2:22pm Wonderfully subtle and funny, though perhaps not quite as punchy as This is Not My Hat. Still, a fun read with great illustrations that work in counterpoint to the text. I particularly love the subdued colors.

low-key but wonderful submitted by fairytale on July 11, 2013, 10:44am Low-key but wonderful! Kids will want to read it again and again.

Delightful! submitted by emjane on August 9, 2013, 9:47am A sassy small fish has stolen a hat from a very large fish-- but since only a crab saw him take it, he doesn't have to worry, right?

Delightfully funny, Klassen's story and illustrations will capture the attention of listeners as they realize the worry-free explanations of the small fish contradict the situation portrayed in the pictures. The art of This Is Not My Hat is digitally created, but resembles paper cut-outs, giving it a style different from most picture books. Because the text is made up of only the dialogue of the small fish, the book begs to be read aloud-- and children will beg to be read it again and again.

Highly recommended.

cute submitted by Kaydence paige on June 27, 2015, 10:08am My daughter liked reading this. She laughed the whole time about how the fish was being tricky.

Fun! submitted by betsywil on August 12, 2015, 9:04am This book is fun - almost as fun as his other title, This is Not My Hat.
Read them both.

A Favorite submitted by swiderskis on June 17, 2017, 5:07pm John Klassen books never disappoint and the trend holds true here. The (appropriate) dark humor will make both adults and children laugh. I also suggest checking out other books that Klassen has illustrated for wonderfully rendered illustrations.

Adorable submitted by wellscai on August 25, 2017, 11:26am Love the story, and the illustrations are absolutely amazing.

Beautifully Told submitted by Maria Maguire on July 6, 2018, 12:56pm The way the words and illustrations work together to tell the story - often in direct opposition with one another - make this a wonderful story to read again and again.

Cute submitted by Shin Yi on July 18, 2018, 2:51pm Kids love the story and illustrations. And it's easy from them to be a storyteller!

Great Author submitted by amk08 on August 13, 2018, 2:05pm Another funny book by a great author!

Always funny submitted by dntanzer on August 31, 2018, 3:09pm Klassen really does great with this series. All three books are funny and beautiful. The group of adults I showed these too loved them as much as the kids!

Irony for Kiddos submitted by Meginator on July 14, 2019, 4:56pm This simple story is more than what it seems, serving as an excellent introduction to dramatic irony for the youngest audiences. The simple illustrations depict a dark undersea realm dense with foliage and populated by a few enterprising sea creatures; Klassen uses the book’s landscape orientation to great effect, emphasizing the size differential between the two main characters and creating a constant sense of forward (or, in one notable spread, backward) motion that consistently propels the narrative action and the central conflict. Klassen hides a lot between the deceptively simple lines here, offering an excellent opportunity for young readers to make their own assumptions about the story and develop a sense of dry, ironic humor. This book is dark yet accessible for young audiences, with the barest hint of a moral to tie it all together (though, honestly, it may be best to elide that element and let the story speak for itself) and a laugh-out-loud ending that had me in stitches. This is a great change of pace, well-conceived and well-executed and an all-around winner.

A fun story submitted by Cihendricks on August 24, 2019, 4:47pm This story has a great message and the illustrations are delightful!

This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen submitted by ccrose on September 5, 2019, 11:11pm I looked for this book because of the comments on illustration style. I’m always curious about artists’ techniques. This is a sort of technical look at the artwork so skip it if it doesn’t appeal to you.
We efficiently enter the story on the cover. A warm, matte brown-black covers all the pages and represents deep dark water.The illustrations are digitally made. They look like cut paper and remind me of Eric Carle’s torn tissue for layering. The palette is a variant of the warm charcoal background, with marbling or irregular speckles. Tiny white bubbles convey breathing and casual or portentous movement.
The figures of fish don’t change throughout except for placement of the eye. It’s the eye that conveys emotion and judgement. The bubbles do an amazing job showing movement and ferocity.
. A device which conveys the odds that this little fish is going to get away with his sassy crime Is extremes of size. The sardine sized fish is surrounded by the huge dark water ,and the big fish almost fills the double page.Texture gives the big fish weight, dark on top to light on the belly. Already, the reader knows the outcome.
A little orange crab rolls up his eyes-on-a-stem with doubt in them, as the little fish sashays by. Thick vegetation appears, covers every inch of the double page. Again, scale does all the work.
The tall tail of the big fish is all that’s on the edge of page; bubbles swirl madly to show his angry speed. In the vegetation, we see only his tail.
Lastly, big fish in entirety, itty-bitty hat on his head, resumes his spot. His eye is stern and straight ahead. Little fish isn’t seen again.
Scale, tension and, humor, awareness of outcome early on, no on-page confrontation. Efficiency. Minimal detail. Multiple discussion possibilities exist by last page.

ytyty submitted by SoapyCupcaketoeNaIL on July 19, 2021, 2:00pm geewahjafweaw

PSP Sony submitted by smr on August 28, 2021, 9:40am gcs1

love this one! submitted by laurenalysse on August 24, 2022, 10:16am This is another great book from Klassen. The story is entertaining for my almost 4 year old, and asking her about how the text differs from the images always gets a good response. The dark humor of Klassen's books is so nice to see in children's books.

Imagine submitted by kathscot on August 18, 2023, 12:23pm This book leaves a good deal to the imagination of the reader. A great read together book.