H got ‘I Want My Hat Back’ by Jon Klassen last Christmas, and while she’s still a bit too young to get what happened and how the bear got his hat back (despite it being fairly blatant!), this time it really does spell it out!

A small fish has stolen a hat from a big fish. The small fish brags about it, saying how the big fish probably won’t even notice. However, as with ‘I Want My Hat Back’, there’s no happy ending to be had – well, apart from for the big fish and his nice full tummy (probably).

I love these books! What I love the most is how they work on two levels – in the first book the bear says “I would not eat a rabbit. Don’t ask me any more questions.” (when he has quite obviously eaten the rabbit), and our 3-year-old doesn’t get that message at all – just that the bear has his hat back. This time we’re dealing with fish, and the big fish doesn’t say anything – so there’s a lot more describing what’s happened for this one! (and no gore, obviously – it’s a kids book)

The books are wonderfully illustrated by Jon Klassen and involve minimal words – there’s plenty to get your imagination going. If you haven’t come across either book, here’s the trailer for ‘I Want My Hat Back‘

and here’s the one for ‘This is Not My Hat‘

See? Lovely! Both are published by Walker Books and are available to buy now! We read both books to H – she’s almost 3.5 now, and was having them read to her at 2.5 if you had any concerns. The books aren’t obvious with what happened, and she still doesn’t realise what has actually happened to the hat-thieves.