Module 1 Book Review #1: This is Not My Hat

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*This book review was made for one of my MLS courses at SHSU.*

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Klassen, Jon. (2012). THIS IS NOT MY HAT. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press. ISBN 9780763655990

PLOT SUMMARY
A small fish has stolen a hat from a sleeping bigger fish and believes that he will not get caught. As the story progresses, the fish keeps trying to convince both himself and the reader that what he did wasn’t all that bad and that he made the correct choice. The real question is, will he indeed get away with his crime, or will karma come back for him instead?

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
John Klassen’s plot in This is Not My Hat is the perfect demonstration of both bad karma and punishment when a wrong decision is made. His main character is a small fish with both sneaky and mischievous qualities, which can easily make the reader believe that his actions of stealing someone else’s hat is humorous and not so serious. However, the little fish kept attempting to justify his actions by stating as many excuses as he can, which can then allow the reader to then see the cons of his choice. For example, after describing the big fish he stole from, the little fish stated, “And even if he does notice that it’s gone, he probably won’t know it was me who took it”. This shows that there is guilt present within the small fish, but he won’t admit it since he already committed the crime.

The texts in the picture book are short and sweet, but the illustrations by Klassen definitely play a big role in the story’s plot as well. As the reader is informed about the stolen hat by the little fish, they can also view the bigger fish’s emotions and his route to find the smaller fish through the pictures. We can see he is annoyed and how he indeed does everything the smaller fish said he wouldn’t do (i.e. wake up, ask around for help, etc.). The colors of the illustrations represent dark and camo tones, especially to help represent the night time underwater adventure. I believe these colors were also chosen to attempt to validate the small fish’s claim that he will not be seen nor caught (which we find out is definitely not true).

Overall, I believe there are several moral points planted in this story. These themes include trust, judgement, and then again, punishment. A crab was trusted to keep the small fish’s crime on the down low. However, the crab went ahead and told the bigger fish which direction the thief went. This decision of the crab’s doesn’t represent “snitching”, but simply represents that he understands that the small fish’s actions were wrong and that the big fish deserves his hat back. As for judgement, the small fish continued his route to escape after the fact that he stole someone else’s hat and even admitted that he was aware it was not the right choice to make. Finally, there was a punishment lesson at the end of the story. As soon as the small fish reaches his hideout destination, he thought he was good to go, even though the big fish clearly sees him swim into it. The story ends with the big fish following the smaller one into the tall plants and eventually coming out by himself looking content with his hat returned back to the top of his head. The reader can infer that maybe the smaller fish was eaten, or maybe just got super scared and hurried up and gave the hat back. Whatever the case may be, the small fish lost, and he was not rewarded in any way.

REVIEW EXCERPTS
*2013 Caldecott Medal Winner
*Starred Review from Publishers Weekly: “Klassen excels at using pictures to tell the parts of the story his unreliable narrators omit or evade.”
*Starred Review from Kirkus Reviews: “Klassen combines spare text and art to deliver no small measure of laughs in another darkly comic haberdashery whodunit…Hats off!”
*Starred Review from Horn Book: “Klassen manages to tell almost the whole story through subtle eye movements and the tilt of seaweed and air bubbles...Darkly hilarious.”

CONNECTIONS
*Along with This is Not My Hat, I Want My Hat Back and We Found a Hat are the other two books in this picture book trilogy. They also both represent honest emotions and help demonstrate themes such as judgement and punishment.
*This picture book can be used to teach point of view and making inferences. For example, students can analyze the small fish’s feelings and beliefs and then analyze the illustrations to infer how the big fish is feeling like a victim. Students can also make an inference about the thief’s punishment.
*Stealing is not okay under any circumstance; therefore, this book can be read to younger children to learn about this type of crime’s consequences.

PICTURE SOURCE
https://www.amazon.co.uk/This-Not-Hat-Jon-Klassen/dp/1406353434

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