This is Not My Hat

Klassen, J. (2012). This is not my hat. Boston, MA: Candlewick.

A little fish has stolen a big fish’s hat and he is not concerned that it is wrong to steal. He decides to go and hide in the seaweed, where he thinks he can never be found. When big fish wakes up, he immediately realizes his hat is gone and begins the search. Then the big fish finds little fish, with the help of a sneaky crab, in a bed of seaweed. The reader is left to imagine what happened to little fish.

This is a cautionary tale of what can happen when you steal, especially from a big fish. Klaassen uses  the big fish’s eyes to convey the big fish’s thoughts (he wants his hat back) and the text to tell what little fish is thinking. Young students will enjoy the humor of this book and debating what happened at the end of the story to little fish. The story lends itself to making predictions throughout as Big Fish searches for his hat. The dark background and the muted tones of the fish and seaweed, set the perfect tone to the book.

Caldecott Award Book Winner 2013