Klassen, J. (2011). I want my hat back .
Massachusetts, USA. Candlewick Press
ISBN: #978-0-7636-5598-3
This book I found was hilarious in my
opinion. It made me laugh three pages in. The main character the Bear comes
into conflict by losing his favourite hat, he cannot find it anywhere and all
he wants is to get his hat back.
The Bear goes on a journey, to find his hat. One by one, the bear asks his
friends if they have seen his hat. He is very patient and polite. Each animal
says no, some more elaborately than others. But just as the bear begins to give
up, a deer comes by and asks a simple question that sparks the bear's memory
and renews his search with a vengeance!
I think this book would be appropriate for
three to five year olds because it encourages wonder within the first page. It
also brings awareness to the fact that stealing is wrong. This book is very
funny and an easy read. It almost feels like the book is winking to the reader
giving a cheeky remark and drawing you in. I
Want My Hat Back is defiantly a thrill and you will want to be in on the
joke.
The Illustrations are filled with visual humour;
it makes it easy for the reader to understand what is going on. The Author of
the book is also the Illustrator. Jon Klassen took part in the motion picture Coralline;
he worked on visual development. In I
Want By Hat Back Klassen used watercolours and Chinese ink to define the
characters. I appreciated how Klassen used a neutral medium. It helped his
characters stand out and kept the mood subtle so the focus could stay on the
outcome of the story. I think this is important because it helps the children
pick up the joke faster. I am drawn to the humor in the book; the pictures in
the book made the humor stand out.
Building background knowledge or provoking
interest for this book can be quite simple and fun. Right in the morning I could
project photos of the characters on the wall, by using acetate sheets and a
projector. The photos should be of real animals. After recess I would put a
stuffed bear on a chair wearing a red hat. Once story time has begun, good
places to stop and wonder would be; when the bear comes across his hat, you can
ask “ I wonder why the bear did not notice his hat”, another good wonder would
be when the bear has stopped his search and almost gives up. You can say, “ I
wonder how the bear is feeling”.
You could also chunk the book at this point and say, “I wonder if the
bear will ever find his hat… Until next time we will find out.” On the next day
or if you decide to not chunk the book, the best page to provoke wonder would
be, when the bear comes across a deer that sparks his memory as to where he has
seen his hat. You can say to the children “ Hmmm… I wonder who has is hat” With
a huge smile on your face!
Ways to tell
this story:
#1- Magnetic
Story
What I need:
-
One Cookie sheet (make sure
your magnetic paper sticks to cookie sheet before purchase, would
be wise to purchase the magnetic paper before hand)
-
Acrylic paint, any brand so you
can paint a background on the cookie sheet (Optional)
-
-Magnetic Printing paper (From
Staples): to print characters off the Internet
-
Characters can be found on
Google image search. For example, I searched bears and choose an image I liked.
-
Characters needed: The Bear,
rabbit, turtle, fox, snake, frog, squirrel, deer, racoon and some background
artwork such as trees, bushes etc.
-
Place magnetic paper in your
printer and print off characters
#2- Felt Story
What I need:
-
Felt board, any colour is fine
-
T-shirt paper (from staples):
To print off characters from the internet
-
Characters can be found on Google
image search. For example, I searched bears and choose an image I liked.
-
Characters needed: The Bear,
rabbit, turtle, fox, snake, frog, squirrel, deer, racoon and some background
artwork such as trees, bushes etc.
-
Place T-shirt in your printer
and print off characters
-
Take the T-shirt paper with the
printed animals on it and iron it onto a white piece of felt fabric, cut out
the characters. By ironing the T-shirt paper to felt, it will allow the
characters to stick to the felt board
#3- Shadow Box
(Best used when
the book has been read more then once, and children are familiar with the
story)
What I need: Shadow box
-
While telling the story, it
would be best if the lights were off. You should position yourself beside the
box as you read. This will be easier to change the characters during scenes.
While telling the story there isn’t any action from the characters, the purpose
of the characters are just to be projections, so the children can use their
imagination and visualize what is happening.
-
Use Black paper to cut out the
shape of the characters: The Bear, rabbit, turtle, fox, snake, frog, squirrel,
deer, and the racoon
-
Control rods (shish-kea- bob
sticks work wonderfully) that will be taped to your paper characters
-
You will need a medium sized
cardboard box to build the shadow box, white paper for the screen of the box
and a backlight to aluminate the box to project puppets through the screen.
(Back light can be a tiny lamp) For box instructions visit:
OR
#4- Surprise
Basket
What I need:
-
Large basket with a large
blanket to cover props
-
You will need 3-Dimentional
figures to represent the characters in the book: The Bear, rabbit, turtle, fox,
snake, frog, squirrel, deer, racoon and some background artwork such as trees,
bushes etc.
-
Figures can be bought from any
toy story, shrift store or dollar store
-
As you tell the story you
should slowly take the characters out, one by one as they are mentioned in the
book.
Extensions:
1)
Nature Walk- Go on a walk to
the park with the children. I would continue to lead the walk into the forest
or on a trail and discuss further the different types of animals that lived
there. I would provoke wonder from the children’s answers and ask if those
animals were friends and if they thought real animals wore hats.
2)
Hat Making- After the walk or
even the next day, I would set up an arts and crafts section. You will need red
felt hats for each child in your class. The children will take their felt hats
and be able to decorate them however they want. This allows children to express
themselves.
3)
Explore different types of
animals and the different places they live. Have the children paint their
favourite animal wearing a hat. (Jon Klassen uses paints to illustrate his
books)
4)
You could read more books by
Jon Klassen to exploring animals or paint further. Cats Night Out, Extra Yarn
and House Held Up By Trees
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