Title: I Want My Hat Back
Author: Jon Klassen
Illustrator: Jon Klassen
Publisher: Walker Books
Genre: Children’s picture book
Book format: Hardback (part of Jon Klassen’s Hat Box)
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Description: A bear has lost his hat.  What if he never sees it again?
WAIT!
He has seen his hat…

*Free copy provided by publisher for review…

Review:  This book is brilliant! I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so much and I know now why this is such a loved picture book! ‘I Want My Hat Back’ is the first in the hat trilogy by Jon Klassen and is so funny to both read and look at. The book is A4 in size but has a matt texture on the cover, this matt texture continues inside the pages (and in every book of the Hat Trilogy) and the pages are a good thickness with illustrations and some text.

I Want My Hat Back book page image one
©The Strawberry Post

 

The story is a simple one but so funny, the bear has lost his hat, and he wants it back, so he starts asking, one at a time, different animals if they have seen his hat. Each page for about half of the book follows a repetitive theme children will enjoy, with a picture on the left and the text on the right, the bear asking if the animal’s seen his hat and all of them replying “no” in one way or another. The answers are funny though, with each animal’s response being a little different to the last and one of them answering a little suspiciously. The story ends in a very funny way, bear’s hat shows up but it’s the last pages that made me really laugh.

I love Klassen’s style of illustration since the first book I’ve ever seen of his and there is just something about the simple shapes and muted colours that makes this book all the more funny to look at. Each picture is very simple but shows the story really well. I love the way the pictures look, printed shapes with added details and the way their eyes look. Bear in particular just stands there for the majority of the story looking a bit indifferent despite his search, the expression just looks funny to me and I can see kids enjoying the repetitive and simple style of the pictures as well as the text.

I Want My Hat Back book page image two
©The Strawberry Post

 

There’s something so funny about this book and others in the Hat Trilogy and I know that kids will enjoy the book due to it’s pictures and repetition. It’s the sort of book I think I would have enjoyed as a child and I think adults reading this with children will also get a laugh from it, especially with how it ends!

Have you read this book?  What books have made you laugh?  Let me know what you think in the comments below 🙂

 

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