I Want My Hat Back (The Hat Trilogy #1)

In his first outing as an author, Klassen's (Cats' Night Out) words and artwork are deliberately understated, with delectable results. Digitally manipulated ink paintings show a slow-witted bear asking half a dozen forest animals if they've seen his hat. Unadorned lines of type, printed without quotation marks or attributions, parallel the sparse lines Klassen uses for the forest's greenery. Most of the answers the bear gets are no help ("What's a hat?" one animal asks), but the rabbit's answer arouses suspicion: "I haven't seen any hats anywhere. I would not steal a hat. Don't ask me any more questions." In a classic double-take, the bear doesn't notice the hat on the rabbit's head until several pages on: "I have seen my hat," he realizes, wide-eyed. Readers with delicate sensibilities may object to the implied conclusion ("I would not eat a rabbit," the bear says stoutly, his hat back on his head, the forest floor showing signs of a scuffle), but there is no objecting to Klassen's skillful characterizations; though they're simply drawn and have little to say, each animal emerges fully realized. A noteworthy debut. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)

Gr 1-3--Readers may be too young to know Nixon's famous line, "I am not a crook," but they'll surely figure out that someone here is not telling the truth. Bear has lost his hat and asks various creatures if they have seen it, with pronounced civility. Snake goes offtrack (and will also throw inattentive listeners offtrack) by announcing he's seen a blue and round hat. Rabbit vigorously denies having seen anything like it, despite evidence to the contrary. Armadillo asks, "What is a hat?" Bear is flung into despair until a young deer asks, "What does your hat look like?" Bear starts to describe it and immediately realizes he has seen it. The following page is painted red with anger. Readers realize they have seen it, too! Bear confronts the culprit and what happens next is a matter of interpretation. Violence is implied, but only indirectly. The Chinese ink illustrations are understated and stylized, and the pages are a natural sandy hue throughout. The dialogue is not in quotations but in contrasting colors. Wisps of grass, rocks, small branches, and specks of dirt compose the setting. Read aloud, this story will offer many sublime insights into how young readers comprehend an illustrated text that leaves out vital information, and will leave young sleuths reeling with theories about what just happened.--Sara Lissa Paulson, American Sign Language and English Lower School PS 347, New York City

A marvelous book in the true dictionary sense of "marvel": it is a wonderful and astonishing thing, the kind of book that makes child laugh and adult chuckle, and both smile in appreciation. A charmingly wicked little book.
—The New York Times

You know, bears may stand for adults in some way, because they're big, they're ungainly, they're goofy. They're like most of us grownups. But the bear in this book paws down; he's got to be the dimmest, most slow-witted, brilliantly stupid bear to come along in years. I really love him.
—NPR Weekend Edition

Four pages into this charmer, every kindergartner will know where the bear's missing hat is — but they'll never predict the hilarious revenge he takes on the thief.
—People Magazine

A sly picture book...Young readers and listeners will love being in on the joke, making them appreciate the story's humor even more.
—BookPage

The joy of this book lies in figuring out the explicit plot from the implicit details in the pictures, especially a few wordless ones.
—Chicago Tribune

A coterie of woodland animals is drawn in a minimalistic style and a palette of browns with a splash of red. The dialogue is simple and sly.
—The Boston Globe

This is a familiar picture-book formula with a twist, and the minimalist style Klassen employs with both text and art only emphasizes the humor of the situation....While these design choices and the simplicity and pattern of the text would make this a good choice for beginning readers, it would also make an amusing readaloud or a great little readers' theater piece.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Read I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen. It's the most subtle endorsement of murder you'll ever find.
—GQ.com

This is a must-have for any primary or even intermediate classroom. It's about inference and being a good reader.
—Huffington Post