I Love My Hat

by Douglas Florian, Paige Keiser (Illustrator)

Overview

One autumn morning, Farmer Brown gets on his tractor and heads to town. Along the way, he picks up a cat in a hat, a goat in a coat, an ox in socks, and other animals who love their clothes—and each animal sings a little song about what it’s wearing. When they reach the town, it’s Farmer Brown’s turn to sing about his clothes—after he gets some new ones. This silly farmyard romp will have kids singing about their own favorite clothes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781477847800
Publisher:	Amazon Publishing
Publication date:	10/07/2014
Pages:	24
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD280L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

Douglas Florian is the creator of many acclaimed picture books, including Dinothesaurus, which received starred reviews in four major publications; Comet, Stars, The Moon, and Mars, a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year and Horn Book Fanfare List selection; Bow Wow Meow Meow, winner of the Gryphon Award and a Parents magazine Best Book of the Year; and Lizards, Frogs, and Polliwogs, a Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book. He lives with his family in New York. Learn more: www.douglasflorian.com.

Editorial Reviews

Hillenbrand brings a freshness…[to] this chipper wordless outing.” —Publishers Weekly

“[T]his wordless book delivers a comic wintertime romp… A cozy read for bibliophiles.” —Kirkus Reviews

“The double-page spreads in soft watercolors, brush and ink, and pastels and generous use of white space are a joyful medium to show off the silly critters in this fun romp.” —Booklist

From the Publisher

11/01/2014
PreS-Gr 1—As Farmer Brown drives his tractor to town, he encounters a bevy of critters that he compliments on their sartorial choices. The calico cat has a nice hat, the nanny goat a nice coat, the big white ox has nice sox, the big brown bear nice underwear, etc. Each critter then sings a few lines about how they love their article of clothing and joins Farmer Brown as he continues down the road. Once in town they sing to Farmer Brown, "Farmer Brown, you need new clothes! Dress yourself up from your nose to your toes!" And so he does, reappearing to sing about his new clothes as the animals cavort around him. Florian's rhyming, repeitive text is great for reading aloud, and the song lyrics are in red to make it easy to sing along in the appropriate places. Keiser's illustrations are delighful. They have the perfect amount of details without being fussy, and her color palette is soft and muted. This is a joyous, song-filled story about feeling good about your choices. It has plenty of child appeal and is super fun to read aloud.—Catherine Callegari, Gay-Kimball Library, Troy, NH

School Library Journal

2014-09-14
Lively illustrations stand out in this rustic tale. Unkempt Farmer Brown takes his tractor on a trip into town, and along the way he meets various animals frolicking in singular sartorial splendor. After each animal sings a little ditty about how much it loves its item of clothing, Farmer Brown invites them, Mr. Gumpy-like, to "[h]op aboard." This template is repeated on each spread with a different animal and a different article of clothing (the calico cat wears a hat, the turtledoves wear gloves, and so on), and by the end, the tractor is filled and they've all arrived in town. There, the animals urge Farmer Brown to go get himself some new clothes, and after he does, he sings his own song about how much he loves his new outfit. Because most of the spreads are nearly identical in narrative, with only the rhyming animal-and-clothing pairs changing, the overall effect is a stale storyline that dampens rather than builds tension. Mr. Gumpy's punt tips over, unlike this tractor. The illustrations, by contrast, are executed with a lively line and cheerful watercolor washes that entertain the eye. While they try their best to lift up the flat storyline, they do not succeed. The endpapers, in a somber, unrelieved dark blue, do nothing to add story interest. A repetitive picture book that struggles to be interesting. (Picture book. 2-5)

Kirkus Reviews