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Children's Fiction Bears

I Want My Hat Back

illustrated by Jon Klassen

Publisher
Candlewick Press
Initial publish date
Sep 2011
Category
Bears, Humorous Stories, General
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780763655983
    Publish Date
    Sep 2011
    List Price
    $24.99
  • Board book

    ISBN
    9781536207576
    Publish Date
    Mar 2019
    List Price
    $11.99

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Where to buy it

Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels

  • Age: 4 to 8
  • Grade: p to 3

Description

A New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book of 2011!
A picture-book delight by a rising talent tells a cumulative tale with a mischievous twist.

The bear’s hat is gone, and he wants it back. Patiently and politely, he asks the animals he comes across, one by one, whether they have seen it. Each animal says no, some more elaborately than others. But just as the bear begins to despond, a deer comes by and asks a simple question that sparks the bear’s memory and renews his search with a vengeance. Told completely in dialogue, this delicious take on the classic repetitive tale plays out in sly illustrations laced with visual humor — and winks at the reader with a wry irreverence that will have kids of all ages thrilled to be in on the joke.

About the author

JON KLASSEN est le créateur de Rendez-moi mon chapeau!, classé numéro un au palmarès du New York Times et qui lui a valu le Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor, ainsi que des livres complémentaires Ce n’est pas mon chapeau, pour lequel il a reçu la médaille Caldecott et la médaille Kate Greenaway, et Nous avons trouvé un chapeau, nommé meilleur livre pour enfants de l’année par le Publishers Weekly. Il a aussi écrit et illustré Le rocher tombé du ciel et illustré Les trois boucs et le troll, Triangle, Carré et Cercle, Le loup, le canard et la souris et Max et Sam creusent, creusent, creusent… tous écrits par Mac Barnett. Originaire de Niagara Falls, Jon Klassen vit maintenant à Los Angeles.

 

 

Jon Klassen is an animator and Governor General's Award-winning creator of children's books. His book This Is Not My Hat won both the American Caldecott Medal and the British Kate Greenway Medal, making Jon the first person to win both awards for the same work. Jon was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and currently resides in Los Angeles.

Jon Klassen's profile page

Editorial Reviews

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

Deliberately understated, with delectable results… Skillful characterizations; though they're simply drawn and have little to say, each animal emerges fully realized.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

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.
—School Library Journal

Klassen's animation and design skills are evident on every page in this sly, subversive tale... Adults and older children will chuckle mordantly at rabbit's sudden disappearance, while young children might actually wonder, with Squirrel, where the rabbit has gone.
—The Horn Book

Indubitably hip, this will find plenty of admirers.
—Kirkus Reviews

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

Librarian Reviews

I Want My Hat Back

Told completely in dialogue, this delicious take on the classic repetitive tale plays out in sly illustrations laced with visual humour — and winks at the reader with a wry irreverence that will have kids of all ages thrilled to be in on the joke.

Source: The Canadian Children’s Book Centre. Best Books for Kids & Teens. Fall, 2012.

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