This Is Not My Hat and I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen

I Want My Hat Back, a Geisel Award honor book, is the first of Jon Klassen's picture books about missing hats. It is the story of a very polite bear who loses his red, pointy hat and goes in search for it. I especially like how the type color changes when a different character speaks. This makes the dialogue easy to follow.

This Is Not My Hat, a Caldecott Medal winner, is Klassen's second hat story. It is about what happens when a small fish steals a large fish's hat. I love the small fish's cocky attitude and that the reader is always one step ahead of him.

Both books have simple, straightforward text and wonderful illustrations, making them excellent choices for beginning readers. However, both books also employ a clever, sophisticated sense of humor and thought-provoking endings that allow the reader to figure out what happened for him or herself. These are features an older audience will enjoy.

If you can only get your hands on one of these books, read This Is Not My Hat. It is the funnier of the two.

By Mrs. N.