I Want My Hat Back
"The funniest book ever written" - Guardian. A laugh-out-loud gift from bestselling and multi-award-winning picture book maker Jon Klassen
OVER 1 MILLION COPIES SOLD
A New York Times Bestseller and Best Illustrated Book
Voted one of the BBC’s 100 Greatest Picture Books of All Time
“The funniest book ever written” Guardian
“One of the simplest yet most original and entertaining picture books around” The Telegraph
“Astonishing. A charmingly wicked little book.” The New York Times
“Equally as funny for adults as kids.” Romesh Ranganathan, The I Paper, The Best Bedtime Books of All Time
Bear's hat has gone.
And he wants it back.
Collect all three HAT books:
I Want My Hat Back
This is Not My Hat
We Found a Hat
Resources
Creators
Jon Klassen is the author-illustrator of I Want My Hat Back, We Found a Hat and This Is Not My Hat, the only book to ever win both the Kate Greenaway and Caldecott Medal. He also illustrated Triangle, Square, The Wolf, the Duck and the Mouse, Extra Yarn and Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, all written by Mac Barnett, as well as Ted Kooser's House Held Up By Trees. Before making picture books, he worked as an illustrator on the animated feature film, Coraline. Originally from Niagara Falls, Canada, Jon now lives in Los Angeles, California with his wife and son. Find Jon online at burstofbeaden.com, on Twitter as @burstofbeaden, and on Instagram as @jonklassen.
Reviews
“[…] the funniest book ever written and here is why: it is always funny, every single time you read it. And if you know any children at all, you will be reading it a lot. It is funny in whatever language you read it (22 and counting) and to almost every child in the world.”
The Guardian
Repetition for the under 5’s and giggles for the over 25’s (Best book for laughs)
The Lady
This must be one of the simplest yet original entertaining picture books around at the moment.
The Telegraph
This is an author-illustrator who takes you from page to page with a dry humour which matches his story perfectly.
The Telegraph
Elegant books
Wall Street Journal
This simple story of a bear looking for his hat is my go to for an instant pick-up and giggle. Illustrated simply but with obvious care and forethought, the images convey an extra, subtle layer of humour which for now is lost on my young children. However they still appreciate the story and question why I am laughing like a loon at a bear looking for and finding a hat.
The Cheltonian
“Read I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen. It’s the most subtle endorsement of murder you’ll ever find.”
GQ
“Fed up with reading sugar-coated bedtime stories? Try Jon Klassen’s black-humoured book about a bear trying to track down his missing hat, which your delighted tot will spot long before our hapless detective. There’s loss, lies, vigilante justice and a sticky-pawed bunny. The deliciously deadpan dialogue and stylish muted colour palette will delight all ages, too.”
Gurgle
“[…] hilarious and with such amazing illustrations to boot.”
Gurgle
Recommended by Frank Cottrell-Boyce as a must read in lockdown on the Lauren Laverne Radio 6 Show.
Lauren Laverne Radio 6 Show
It’s a beautifully constructed, immaculately told joke. The kind I wish I had told.
Books for Keeps
Voted one of the 100 Greatest Picture Books of All Time
BBC
Told with deadpan humour, this is a story full of big feelings that small children will recognise. Plus, for those with the inclination, there are opportunities to do lots of wacky voices.
The i Paper, The best bedtime books of all time
This is the one of the best examples I can recall of a young children’s book being equally as funny for adults as kids. Part of how clever the book is lies in the clues in the illustrations that help you understand what has actually happened in the story.
Romesh Ranganathan, The i Paper
