This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen is a short tale of a small fish who took a coveted hat from a much, much larger fish. The small fish tries to justify his actions to the reader and brags of his plan to escape throughout the book. Let’s just say it didn’t work out for the little fish.

A Caldecott medal winner, This is Not My Hat features simple but expressive artwork set mostly against a dark, dark gray background. This highlights the size of characters and the dense, tall grass that is the little fish’s destination.

This book is also amusing because the pictures tell a different story than the words. As mentioned before, the smaller fish spends most of the book justifying his actions, and says that he’ll get away with the theft. The reader knows otherwise because the pictures are the opposite of what the little fish says.

What happened to the little fish at the end is ambiguous due to the strategic artwork.

This book is a great example of dramatic irony (we as readers know something the character doesn’t) for the little ones.

This book would be great for pre- and early- elementary aged children.