Title: This Is Not My Hat
Author: Jon Klassen
Illustrator: Jon Klassen
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Year of Publication: 2012
Genre: Fiction
Horn Book/ Kirkus Review: Horn Book Rating- 1 and Kirkus Starred Review
Summary: In this comical story, a small fish steals a hat off of a large fish that is sleeping. He doesn't think the large fish will ever realize his hat is missing. However, the large fish knows the hat is missing and sets out to find the small fish and get his hat back!
Summary of Professional Reviews: Kirkus Reviews enjoyed how Klassen used minimal text and illustrations to tell the story. They found that "much of the art follows the big fish on his hunt, creating a pleasing counterpoint with the text," which creates the comical effect. The Horn Book also noticed this technique. Their review states that "He explains why he won't be caught (the fish is asleep, he won't wake up or notice the missing hat, etc.), but every claim he makes is belied by the pictures."
Review by Lauren Miller: I found this book to be very humorous since the text did not match the pictures. The little fish tells the story as though he is getting away with stealing the hat. The pictures show that the big fish know his hat is missing and wants it back. The pictures look like they were created on a computer and placed on top of a black background. On some pages, the large fish took up two pages to show it's large size. The same picture of the large fish was on four pages and the only thing that changed was the fish's eye movement. With one small change, the meaning of the picture changed. The ending was very interesting because the last few pages do not have words. The large fish swims back through the plants with his hat on his head. The reader needs to assume what happened to the little fish.
This book would be useful when teaching:
Author: Jon Klassen
Illustrator: Jon Klassen
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Year of Publication: 2012
Genre: Fiction
Horn Book/ Kirkus Review: Horn Book Rating- 1 and Kirkus Starred Review
Summary: In this comical story, a small fish steals a hat off of a large fish that is sleeping. He doesn't think the large fish will ever realize his hat is missing. However, the large fish knows the hat is missing and sets out to find the small fish and get his hat back!
Summary of Professional Reviews: Kirkus Reviews enjoyed how Klassen used minimal text and illustrations to tell the story. They found that "much of the art follows the big fish on his hunt, creating a pleasing counterpoint with the text," which creates the comical effect. The Horn Book also noticed this technique. Their review states that "He explains why he won't be caught (the fish is asleep, he won't wake up or notice the missing hat, etc.), but every claim he makes is belied by the pictures."
Review by Lauren Miller: I found this book to be very humorous since the text did not match the pictures. The little fish tells the story as though he is getting away with stealing the hat. The pictures show that the big fish know his hat is missing and wants it back. The pictures look like they were created on a computer and placed on top of a black background. On some pages, the large fish took up two pages to show it's large size. The same picture of the large fish was on four pages and the only thing that changed was the fish's eye movement. With one small change, the meaning of the picture changed. The ending was very interesting because the last few pages do not have words. The large fish swims back through the plants with his hat on his head. The reader needs to assume what happened to the little fish.
This book would be useful when teaching:
- nouns, adjectives, and verbs. The teacher could use this book in Language Arts and have the students point out the nouns, adjectives, and verbs that they see on each page.
- a science lesson on ocean animals. Students could research and discuss the fish and crab in the book, while also researching other ocean creatures.