I Want My Hat Back

Written and illustrated by Jon Klassen

Candlewick Press

978-1-5362-0757-6

40 pp.

Ages 3-8

New edition for release March 2019

With the release of this new board book edition of Jon Klassen's award-winning I Want My Hat Back, I am pleased that I can review this gem and introduce new readers to this delightful story. Originally published in 2011, a year before I started this blog, I missed out on reviewing Jon Klassen's first picture book, though I remember well sharing it with little ones.

From I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen

A bear has lost his hat and seeks it by asking a fox, a frog, a rabbit, a turtle, a snake, and an armadillo, "Have you seen my hat?" Their answers are varied, some confused, some preoccupied, and some defensive but all are negative. Ever polite, even helping a turtle to climb a rock, the bear often replies with a "Thank you anyway."

From I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen

It's not until a deer asks the bear what the hat looks like that he realizes he did see his hat. Mystery solved but what will bear do to get his hat back?

From I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen

Those who've read this book will all remember the twist that I Want My Hat Back takes and those who have not are in for a surprise but one that requires little ones to read the clues. From a series of repetitive enquiries to the revelation of the theft and finally the bear's response, both evident and not, I Want My Hat Back propels the reader from beginning to end, with subtle but dark humour that suggests consequences for actions.

In I Want My Hat Back, as well as in its sequels This is Not My Hat (Candlewick, 2012) and We Found a Hat (Candlewick, 2016), Jon Klassen beguiles with his simple but characteristic illustrations of animals and their landscapes. But the simplicity is hardly unsophisticated. It may be more reminiscent of folk art with its clarity of line and austere backgrounds but the art is punchy, just like the story. Bear may get his hat back but it's not a happy ending for the rabbit. Be prepared. Life is like that. And isn't grand that there are those like Jon Klassen who recognize that children's books don't need to be sugar and unicorns to be exceptional and appreciated?

Jon Klassen's hat trilogy

Jon Klassen: Author/Illustrator Event (Toronto)

Jon Klassen,

author and illustrator of


award-winning picture books

I Want My Hat Back 

This is Not My Hat

and 

illustrator of

Sam and Dave Dig a Hole

will give a short presentation about his work as well as sign his books

on

Tuesday, November 18th, 2014 

5pm – 7pm 

at

Little Island Comics 

742 Bathurst Street

Toronto, ON

American Library Association 2012 Awards

Each year, the American Library Association (ALA)  honours books for young people with several long-established awards:  the Newberry Medal, the Caldecott Medal and the Coretta Scott King Awards.  But these distinctions are only three of the awards presented annually at the ALA's midwinter meeting.  Although the American Library Association is based in the U.S., it occasionally selects titles by Canadian authors and illustrators, hence its inclusion here.

to

Paul Yee for his book Money Boy (Groundwood Books, 2011) which was selected as one of four Honor Books for the Stonewall Book Award -Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult Literature Award

and


 

Jon Klassen, the Canadian-born author/illustrator of I Want My Hat Back (Candlewick Press, 2011) whose book was selected as one of three Honor Books for the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award 



FYI:
The full roster of ALA awards include:

• John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children's literature
• Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children
• Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults
• Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award recognizing an African American author of outstanding books for children and young adults
• Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Book Award recognizing an African American illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults
• Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement
• Schneider Family Book Award for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience
• Alex Awards for the 10 best adult books that appeal to teen audiences
• Andrew Carnegie Medal for excellence in children's video
• Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults
• May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Award recognizing an author, critic, librarian, historian or teacher of children's literature
• Mildred L. Batchelder Award for an outstanding children's book translated from a foreign language and subsequently published in the United States
• Odyssey Award for best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States
• Pura Belpré (Illustrator) Award honoring a Latino illustrator whose children's books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience
• Pura Belpré (Author) Award honoring a Latino writer whose children's books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience
• Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award for most distinguished informational book for children
• Stonewall Book Award -Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult Literature Award given annually to English-language children’s and young adult books of exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience
• Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for the most distinguished beginning reader book
• William C. Morris Award for a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens
• YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults, ages 12 – 18

ALA Press Release January 23, 2012