This Is Not My Hat

A little fish has stolen a hat from big fish. Despite the small blue hat fitting the little fish perfectly, the hat is still not his. But the little fish does not really care . . . “It’s not like he’ll ever know what happened.” Once the big fish realizes its hat is gone, it goes looking for it through the seaweed. The book ends with the big fish swimming out of the seaweed with its hat on and the little fish isn’t seen again. I very much enjoyed this book because of its dark humor and straight to the point theme: do not take what is not yours. The story leaves an open end for the reader, inferring either the big fish simply took its hat back from the small fish, or the big fish ate the small fish AND took its hat back. This show more slightly twisted story forces there to be inferences made because the language is so simple; it is clearly meant to portray more meaning than what’s obvious. Readers can benefit from this experience by building thinking skills and practicing predictions. “It’s not like he’ll ever know what happened,” foreshadows the ending, however, the question remains; did the little fish get eaten or not? show less

Headwear theft continues to be a problem in this second 'hat' book from Jon Klassen, whose humorous I Want My Hat Back was a welcome addition to the picture-book genre. In this tale, a tiny fish swims along, assuring the reader that although the hat he is wearing is not his - it belongs, in fact, to a much larger fish - all will be well. Little does he know, as he proceeds blithely along, that the true owner of the hat is hot on his trail...

Like its predecessor, This Is Not My Hat is an amusing book, relying in this case on the contradiction of text and image for much of the entertainment. Young children will enjoy spotting the disconnect between the little fish's optimistic appraisal of the situation, and the reality of the big fish show more following inexorably in his wake. The conclusion here mirrors that of the earlier book as well, as the clear implication is that the larger fish has swallowed the little one in the process of getting his hat back. The artwork, which netted Klassen a Caldecott Medal, is just lovely, utilizing a subtle color palette to create immensely expressive ocean characters. Recommended to anyone who is looking for humorous children's stories, as well as to anyone who enjoyed Klassen's first hat book. show less

I love that the little fish was not really that apologetic about stealing the hat. She* just hopefully rationalized her way to the kelp forest. Indeed, my 6yo was all over that, "it fits the little fish better!" idea -- and when we actually got to that page in the book, where the little fish makes that same argument, my kid was like, "See, I told you!" As if she felt vindicated by the thieving little fish. I guess now I know where to look for missing apparel: In my kid's room, which does seem sort of jungle-like.

Let's just imagine that the little fish is too ashamed to come out of the plants, rather than imagining what else might have befallen her at the hands (fins, teeth) of the big fish. Oops, spoiler.

* By the way, reviewers, the show more first-person fish is not gendered in the text, just in the publisher's blurb. And you know you can't trust those. show less

I love that the little fish was not really that apologetic about stealing the hat. She* just hopefully rationalized her way to the kelp forest. Indeed, my 6yo was all over that, "it fits the little fish better!" idea -- and when we actually got to that page in the book, where the little fish makes that same argument, my kid was like, "See, I told you!" As if she felt vindicated by the thieving little fish. I guess now I know where to look for missing apparel: In my kid's room, which does seem sort of jungle-like. [return][return]Let's just imagine that the little fish is too ashamed to come out of the plants, rather than imagining what else might have befallen her at the hands (fins, teeth) of the big fish. Oops, show more spoiler.[return][return]* By the way, reviewers, the first-person fish is not gendered in the text, just in the publisher's blurb. And you know you can't trust those. show less

This book killed me! Jon Klassen puts his young audience to work with this darkly humorous tale that puts a lot of emphasis on paying attention to the details. Each choice was brilliant, is that of an eye roll, or the subtle movements from the larger fish, each here were worth a thousand words. I look forward to evenings spent huddled around a good book with my favorite tiny friends. It was during this book that Tyler, who is almost 4, told me "Miss Nik, you can never REALLY trust a crab, they're not obedient like Jesus". I died. And apparently, so did that tiny fish.

Funny and clever. I liked how it flips the perspective of the first book from the victim to the thief., but that just makes me think of the first book and makes me wish I were reading that instead.

I bought this book as part of a birthday present for my niece, Karis, who likes to read, and I'm determined to grab as many great books as I can for her.

This book is amazing. It's funny, original, and I love the crab who squealed on the little hat thief. The greatest part--I had to call Karis (who lives one state away) so she could tell me what happened to the little fish after the big fish got his hat back. I had my suspicions, but I had to call a first grader to make sure. My sister had a "Gah! How violent!" moment, but there are consequences! CON-SE-QUENCES! to being a dirty little hat thief. I don't care how cute you are, little fish, and I don't care if the hat fits you better. It was not yours to begin with, Bite-Size.

IN LOVE WITH show more THIS BOOK! show less