Early/Easy Reader: I Want My Hat Back
Klassen, John. I Want My Hat Back. Candlewick Press, 2011. ISBN 0763655988
One polite and single-minded bear has lost his hat. He goes on a search, but the other animals claim not to have seen it. It may seem like this bear's hatless head is as bare on the inside as it is on the outside, but do not count him out -- he may have some surprises!
I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen is hilarious, memorable, and unique (there certainly are not many easy reader books that can be said to have twist endings in the way that this one does). It is understandable why it would be a 2012 Geisel Honor book and recipient of the New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Children's Book Award. It plays on tropes of other famous easy readers -- with its repetition and questing protagonist, it is reminiscent of classics like Are You My Mother? However, its tongue-in-cheek style can make it alienating; it is certainly for readers with a particular sense of humor. This said, there is still much to recommend it for its young audience (as an easy reader, it is suggested for ages four and up), namely Klassen's writing style and illustrations.
It won an award named for Dr Seuss, but the language Klassen uses is not quite Seussian (i.e. there are no wacky-but-fun nonwords): sentences are simple and terse, but this sparse word choice plays into the deadpan humor of the book and makes it easier for younger readers. Further, the words that are used are also ones that are probably familiar to the audience, making it very useful for readers who are just starting out. Also helpful for this audience is the repetition (the formula this creates will help readers figure out the plot within the first pages, and it also leads readers to fill in the blanks of the bear's final surprise) and the use of a large and clear font with different colors to point who is speaking (e.g. a turtle speaks in green, a fox speaks in orange, and a deer speaks in brown).
Klassen's illustrations (Chinese ink and digital art) are also a lot of fun. All the characters are emotionless and plain, but in a charmingly goofy way. The white space makes the illustrations as sparse as the text, but when certain revelations occur to bear --could someone have stolen the hat?-- dramatic color makes a greater impact (and pulls out a bigger laugh). While different animals are introduced on the first several pages, another clear pattern is established with the illustrations and the text, giving early readers another hand with grasping the book’s plot.
This book is really enjoyable for a wide audience, but its intended age group will especially love it, so there are many uses. Its simplicity make it a good early literacy book. It would also make an excellent story time book (the the characters are begging for a reader to give them fun voices). Parents and educators will also appreciate the bear’s willingness to lend a hand and good manners – up until the end, of course!
Young readers who respond to the repetition will be interested in the aforementioned Are You My Mother? by P. D. Easton. For those interested in other comedic easy books, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems should inspire many laughs. For slightly older readers, picture books like The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales offers a similar kind of subversive humor (and color palette for illustrations). Much older readers may enjoy the fact that this book has inspired an Internet meme!
Watch this trailer for a demonstration of this book’s unique brand of humor: