This Is Not My Hat
2001
- humor
- picture books
- fish
- juvenile fiction
- caldecott medal
- juvenile literature
- hats
- fische
- lost and found possessions
- poissons
The story
When a tiny fish shoots into view wearing a round blue topper (which happens to fit him perfectly), trouble could be following close behind. So it’s a good thing that enormous fish won’t wake up. And even if he does, it’s not like he’ll ever know what happened.... A picture-book morality play about rationalizing dishonesty.
What it’s like
Flat, painterly shapes on plain grounds, with a muted palette of deep ocean blues, murky greens and the small bright blue of a stolen hat doing most of the work. The compositions are spare and deadpan: a big fish asleep in a frame of dark water, a small fish angling away across an empty page, and the text set in short, unhurried lines that let each pause land. It reads like a quiet, wry picture-book storybook, the kind you share in a single sitting on a slow afternoon or read aloud at bedtime, with the sly grin arriving on the last page. Pacing is brisk and deliberate, almost minimal, and the emotional register is dry, knowing humour with a faint undertow of guilt that never turns heavy. Its one character arc is a small creature talking himself into a comfortable story. There is no violence, gore, or sexual content, only mild peril in the sense of a big fish possibly waking. It suits adults who enjoy deadpan comedy and children who like being in on a joke, and it is a comfortable, low-stakes read for anyone wanting something gentle and clever.
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