Kathy's Hats: A Story of Hope

I loved this book for three reasons, the first being due to its writing, which is deep yet still appropriate for young readers. The author mentions the child’s fearfulness of her disease and even mentions death at one point in the story, but it is done so in a way young readers would not be turned off by reading about sickness. The second reason I love this book is because the characters are very believable. The main character is a young girl who acts exactly how a child with cancer would react to his/her disease in real life. She strongly dislikes wearing hats and wishes she could have hair like her peers, and she expresses her fearfulness in the beginning as well as her hopefulness and positive attitude in the end of the story. The show more third reason I enjoyed this book is because it pushes young readers to think about tough issues they might not be aware of or fully understand. The book talks about the complications that come along with such a terrible disease, including chemotherapy and how it causes patients to lose their hair. This book is great because it is based on a true story. The big idea of the story is to give readers who have cancer or know of someone who has or has had cancer hope and a positive outlook, as well as to inform readers about illness and acceptance. show less

Kathy loved hats. She remembers every hat at every important stage of her life. Then, she is diagnosed with cancer. When her hair starts falling, her feelings towards hats change completely. I relate completely with Kathy. I really got creative trying to hide my half-bald head on the left side of my head where the hair didn't fall. Sometimes I preferred wearing my hair (or the one lock of hair I was left with) up, then wearing a hat. hats made me look like a 10-year-old boy, and hair scarves were like a neon billboard on my head for everyone to stare.
I personally did not like the book. I can not imagine Kathy liking a baseball hat. even worst with the pins. her scalp would feel irritated with the texture of the jean fabric and the show more metal.

Maybe For other people is different, but for me, this book did not encourage me but made me miss my long hair and my old life even more. show less

In my opinion, the book, “Kathy’s Hats” is an inspiring book for children of all ages to read. The plot is very suspenseful because it is about a young girl who has cancer. The plot is organized to follow Kathy through her difficult times with cancer. Kathy tries to wear a variety of hats, but none of them can make her happy. The story is mainly about a young girl who not only battles her fight with cancer, but also a fight with herself. In the story, Kathy is saddened because feels like she does not fit in with her classmates at school. For example, when talking about her class photo, Kathy says, “I’m the one in the dumb hat.” The illustrations show the numerous, unique hats that Kathy tries on. The illustrations also show show more Kathy in the hospital going through chemotherapy. The illustrations are colorful and depict the powerful message of the plot. This book will broaden student perspectives and get readers to think about important ideas. This book shows children the struggles that other children have to go through. The big idea of this story is to teach children a little bit about cancer so that they can understand it more. This will help students to not be afraid if they know someone who has it. The big idea is to also show children that nothing can take away from their special and unique qualities that make them who they are. show less

Kathy always loved to wear hats as a child but when she is diagnosed with cancer things begin to change. She had to miss school, receive treatment, and spend more time in the hospitals. The worst part was that her hair that took so long to grow was falling out. Her feelings towards hats completely changed and she no longer enjoyed wearing them, she felt dumb wearing them. After her mother tells her she is forgetting about her thinking cap she wears everyday she gets an idea. She begins adding pins to her hat and soon it is filled, and she was happier to wear hats again. After two years of being diagnosed, Kathy's treatment had finally worked, she was cancer free. She is now excited about moving onto greater hats, such as her graduation show more cap, when she gets married, and buying hats for her children. I enjoyed this story, it is filled with hope and acceptance of one self. This book can be used in the class room but also in hospitals for children struggling with cancer. This book can help students understand cancer and what can happen when someone has cancer. This shows that people that have cancer are no different then anyone else just because they are receiving treatment or losing their hair. I think children should be aware of the issues of cancer and this is a good place to start with that. show less

This is a very hopeful story for people of all ages. Kathy is a young girl who is obsessed with hats. She has a collection of hats, and they come in handy when she is diagnosed with cancer. Kathy begins to hate her hats until everyone starts pinning pins to her hat. Through this, she begins to think of all of the hats she can wear later on in life such a graduation and a veil at her wedding. She finds out that she is cancer-free, and her class rejoices with her. This can be a great book of hope to read to children struggling with things like this.

When we think of cancer we down always assume children are in that category, Katie's Hat is about a brave young girl and her colorful hats that guide her to positivity. She is diagnosed with cancer and all her hope is gone. She one day realizes the fun and joy a hat can bring to her different moods. This book is encouraging in many way and beautifully written.

Summary: Kathy is a young girl who has always loved hats-they've marked all sorts of great events in her life. However, then she gets cancer and her hair falls out as a result of the chemotherapy. She is upset and hates having to wear hats-she thinks they're stupid. One day her mother talks to her about the importance of thinking about things differently, and then Kathy realizes that having to wear hats doesn't have to be a bad thing. She begins to accumulate pins to decorate her hat with, and she comes to enjoy wearing them again. After awhile her class has a celebration for Kathy because her cancer was most likely gone. Kathy then looked forward to wearing all sorts of other hats in life to mark key important events.
Genre Critique: show more This is an example of realistic fiction, because though the events of the story were not true, they can and do happen all the time. Kids get cancer and face many of the same things Kathy does in the story, so it is a book that can be very meaningful and helpful for children facing similar hardships to Kathy's.
Something: This story is told in first person by Kathy. I feel that this makes it more meaningful and touching because readers get to understand what it's like to be a child with cancer and the emotions and hardships that go with this.
Media: Watercolor and Ink show less