[BOOK REVIEW] We Found a Hat by Jon Klassen

Title:  We Found a Hat

Author:  Jon Klassen

Genre:  Animals / Sharing / Comedy

Year Published: 2016

Year Read:  2016

Publisher: Candlewick Press   

Series: Hat Trilogy #3  

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+ (Nothing Objectionable)

I have to say that this was the year that Jon Klassen’s “Hat” series has really amazed me and I was lucky enough to read all of Jon Klassen’s “Hat” books all at once!  Jon Klassen’s newest “Hat” book “We Found a Hat” is actually an interesting departure from the usual antics of the “Hat” series that made me chuckle along the way!

The story starts off with two turtles finding a hat and when they both tried the hat on, the both looked good in it.  Unfortunately, there is only one hat and only one of the turtles can have the hat.

How will the two turtles solve this problem?

Read this book to find out!

Ever since I had read “I Want My Hat Back,” I continued reading Jon Klassen’s books and even though “We Found a Hat” was not as dark as Jon Klassen’s previous works regarding the “Hat” series, I still found myself enjoying this unique spin on the importance of sharing!  I loved the fact that Jon Klassen made this story much lighter in tone than his previous works as it made the book quite unique in the “Hat” series and I loved how this book does not focus on stealing (although a couple of scenes depicted one of the turtles nearly doing it), but focuses on the dilemma that the two turtles face in having to figure out who will get the hat.  I was also chuckling to myself when I saw the scenes where one of the turtles was planning on taking the hat and you can see the turtle sneaking up on the hat while the other turtle’s attention was away, as it was hilarious to look at and it shows that despite being lighter in tone than the previous books, it still has the same deadpan humor that was relevant in the previous books.  Jon Klassen’s artwork is as usual deadpan yet comedic as most of the colorings of the artwork are in brown, white and black, which gives off a somewhat mundane feel to the story.  I also love the images of the turtles themselves as they are extremely cute to look at with their small bodies and large and narrow eyes!

Overall, “We Found a Hat” is a brilliant subversion to Jon Klassen’s previous “Hat” books that fans will take delight in and anyone who enjoyed reading “I Want My Hat Back” will surely enjoy this book!

  

  

    

[BOOK REVIEW] This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen

Title:  This is Not My Hat

Author:  Jon Klassen

Genre:  Animals / Honesty / Black Comedy / Revenge / Children's

Year Published: 2012

Year Read:  2016

Publisher: Candlewick Press    

Series: Hat Trilogy #2 

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 7+ (Dark Humor)

“This hat is not mine.  I just stole it.”

Reading that first sentence of the book, you just know what kind of bizarre and intense adventure you will get into when you read this book! After I finished reading “I Want My Hat Back” by Jon Klassen, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Jon Klassen wrote another book that had a similar theme to “I Want My Hat Back!” “This is Not My Hat” is a Caldecott Medal award winning book by Jon Klassen that also details the consequences of stealing and it is sure to be an instant treat for both children and adults alike!

The book starts off with an extremely small fish stating to the readers that it had just stolen a hat from an extremely large fish and that it is trying to find a place to hide from the large fish.  Unfortunately, the large fish notices that its hat is stolen and it immediately goes after the smaller fish.

Will the smaller fish be able to escape from the bigger fish?

Read this book to find out!

Wow and I must say, sir, wow again!  Jon Klassen has certainly done it again with his witty humor and mysterious endings that will have you thinking about what happened to the characters at the end of the story after you finished reading this book!  It seems to me that whenever I read most of Jon Klassen’s solo picture books such as “I Want My Hat Back” and “This is Not My Hat,” they revolve around the theme that stealing is wrong and that people who commit such acts will suffer horrible consequences.  Jon Klassen actually made the characters and the situation much more mysterious in this book than in the previous book “I Want My Hat Back” as the fish characters are much shadier in this book than the forest animals were in the previous book and therefore, it gives this book a dark and mysterious tone.  Jon Klassen’s artwork is much darker and more effective in this book as the background is constantly shown in a black color, giving the illustrations a creepy and foreboding tone and the characters are still drawn in a paper cut out style.  The images of the large fish that follows the small fish throughout the story are extremely large as it takes up most of the pages and you can feel the threatening presence that the large fish gives to the story.

Parents should know that the ending of this book is a bit dark (if you can read between the lines of the situation between the big fish and the small fish) and a bit ambiguous (as we really do not know the fates of one of the characters at the end of this book).  This might frighten small children who might not understand about the implications of the ending and parents might want to read this book first before showing it to their children.

Overall, “This is Not My Hat” is a brilliant and hilarious (in a black comedy kind of way) book about how stealing from other people is wrong and that it brings about its own consequences.  I would recommend this book to children ages seven and up since the ending might frighten and confuse some younger readers.

* 2013 Caldecott Medal
* 2013 Canadian Booksellers Association Libris Award for Children's Picture Book
* 2013 Irma Black Award Nominee
* 2014 Kate Greenaway Medal
* 2014 OLA Forest of Reading Blue Spruce Award Nominee
 

[BOOK REVIEW] I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen

Title:  I Want My Hat Back

Author:  Jon Klassen

Genre:  Animals / Honesty / Black Comedy / Revenge / Children's

Year Published: 2011

Year Read:  2016

Publisher: Candlewick Press    

Series: Hat Trilogy #1 

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 7+ (Dark Humor)

“My hat is gone.  I want it back.”

I will admit that when I first looked at the cover of this book, I actually thought that this was going to be a pretty boring book due to how simplistic the artwork looked.  Now, after reading “I Want My Hat Back” by Jon Klassen and seeing that this book was nominated for several literary awards such as the Irma Black Award Nominee and the Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Award,  I seriously believe that this is one of the best darkly humorous children’s books I had ever read!

Bear had lost his precious hat and even though he asked every animal he comes across, no one has seen his hat (although that Rabbit looks a bit suspicious).  Bear thinks that he will never find his hat again, until he realizes that he had actually seen his hat somewhere…

Will Bear get his hat back?

Read this book to find out!

Wow…just wow…even though I had read many children’s books that were dark and humorous at the same time, I had never read a children’s book quite like this one!  Jon Klassen’s writing is truly unique as the storytelling is simplistic, as it just details the bear trying to find his hat. But towards the end, this book takes on a whole new level of black comedy that unlike most examples is handled in a rather subtle yet sinister way!  I also loved some of the witty dialogue that Jon Klassen put into this book, such as the bear’s conversation with the rabbit:

“Have you seen my hat?”

“No.  Why are you asking me.

I haven’t seen it.

I haven’t seen any hats anywhere.

I would not steal a hat.

Don’t ask me any more questions.”

“OK.  Thank you anyway.”

Jon Klassen’s artwork is simplistic, yet effective for the story being told here and I really loved the images of the Bear being drawn as a big brown animal that has a spaced out look on his face which makes you wonder if he is aware of the situations happening in this book.  However, when the bear finally figures out what happened to his hat, the image of the bear having a surprised look on his face while the background becomes red is surprisingly jarring for the book’s quiet storytelling up until the last few moments of this story.

Parents should know that the ending of this book is pretty dark and although I will not reveal what happens at the end since I do not want to spoil this book for anyone who has not read it yet, let us just say that this conversation between the rabbit and the bear becomes much darker towards the end:

“Have you seen my hat?”

“No.  Why are you asking me.

I haven’t seen it.

I haven’t seen any hats anywhere.

I would not steal a hat.

Don’t ask me any more questions.”

“OK.  Thank you anyway.”

Parents should check to see if their children understand black comedy and read this book themselves to see if small children can handle the rather dark ending.

Overall, “I Want My Hat Back” is seriously one of the most unique children’s books I had ever read and anyone who loves black comedy in children’s books will get a kick out of this book! I would recommend this book to children ages seven and up since the ending might disturb smaller children.

* 2011 Selezionato Mostra Internazionale d’illustrazione per l’infanzia di Sarmede 

* 2012 Irma Black Award Nominee 

* 2012 Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor

* 2013 Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis for Bilderbuch