Kids’ books review: ‘We Found a Hat’
ENGLAND - Two turtles. One cowboy hat. Who will wear the hat? “We Found A Hat” is a picture book told in three parts in the desert, in the style of a silent Western Film that introduces the upcoming scenes. Jon Klassen is the master of sly humor. How can one turtle’s eyes convey so much expression? Nevertheless, without them saying much, the readers can imagine what the turtles might be thinking.
This is Klassen’s third book about hats, following “I Want My Hat Back” and “This Is Not My Hat.” Klassen won the Kate Greenaway Medal in the UK and the Caldecott Medal in the United States in 2012 for “This Is Not My Hat,” and he is the only person to have won both medals in the same year.
As the sun sets in the desert in “We Found A Hat,” the turtles both try on the hat and try to forget that there is only one hat, and two of them. When one turtle says to the other, “what are you thinking about?” the other turtle replies, “nothing.” His eyes slide to the left in slowmotion, where he is clearly eyeing the hat on the opposite page.
With pared down text, this conversation between two turtles is the perfect bedtime story to read aloud. Which turtle will wear the hat in the end? Read this book and find out! (The Clarion-Ledger)