This Is Not My Hat!

Book Title: This Is Not My Hat! 

Author & Illustrator: Jon Klassen 

Publisher: Candlewick Press 

Year: 2012








"Depending on where you are on the political spectrum,

'This Is Not My Hat' could be a cautionary tale of either

righteous class struggle or uppity proletarians"

(Sutton November 09, 2012).

              This New York Times Bestseller has won numerous awards including the 2012 School Library Journal Best Books of the Year, the 2013 Caldecott Medal, the 2013 American Library Association Notable Books for Children, and the 2012 Publishers Weekly Best Children's Books. 

            This book is about a little fish who steals a hat from a big sleeping fish. The little fish does not deny it, he seems to be proud of it, as he admits it on the very first page: “This hat is not mine. I just stole it.” His bragging of his action leads to self justification as the reader can plainly see in Klassen's illustrations that the stolen hat was clearly too small for the original owner and fits the thief just right. The little fish is confident that he will never get caught and as the little fish journeys through his get away, an age old lesson takes form; no one likes to have their stuff taken from them. Klassen's brilliant dead-pan humor shines through; the text is of the little fish's perspective riddled with self-confidence and self-justification, while the stark, geometric illustrations create a bigger context of reality. The little fish continues on his journey, self-confident that his actions, being of no real consequence, will never be noticed. As readers follows the little fish swimming towards his hideout "where the plants are big and tall and close together," Klassen cleverly wakes his big fish to pursue that little hat thief.   

            This is not an illustrative story where bright colors illuminate the humor or characters, this is a dark story, where the black, stark background on each page further emphasizes the drama between the the narrator's perspective and the reader's. Using digital methods and Chinese ink, Klassen used only subtle, small changes, such as the tiniest movement of the big fish's eye, to invite the reader to take a closer look at the real consequences of the little fish's actions. 

          I love this book, and find it both beautiful and hilarious. Preschoolers will enjoy the characters in this story, and emergent readers will engage with the simplicity and repetition of the text. Older elementary children will enjoy speculating on the outcome of the little fish - what really happened "where the plants are big and tall and close together"? 

       There are many literacy development activities that children could do with this story. First, children could act out the story in a small, delightful play, trying out different tones of voice for the little fish. Second, for a science lesson, children could learn about fish, undersea life, and even how to care for a pet fish. Third, as an art exercise, children could make paper hats, or learn about and paint various styles of hats. 

References:

Klassen, Jon. This Is Not My Hat. Ill. by Jon Klassen. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press, 2012.
ISBN-10: 0763655996

Sutton, Roger. New York Times Sunday Book Review:, " Swimmies: ‘Little Tug’ and ‘This Is Not My Hat’." Last modified November 09, 2012. Accessed September 9, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/11/books/review/little-tug-and-this-is-not-my-hat.html?_r=0.

Picture Source:

http://www.candlewick.com/bookxtras.asp?isbn=0763655996&id=&browse=Title&view=jacket&jacket=./images/cwp_bookjackets/648/0763655996.jpg&bktitle=This+Is+Not+My+Hat