Publishers Weekly
Like Klassen's very funny and much-praised I Want My Hat Back, this story involves a hat theft; this time, Klassen ups the ante by having the thief narrate. It's a small gray fish who has stolen a tiny bowler hat from a much larger fish ("It was too small for him anyway," the little fish sniffs. "It fits me just right"). Klassen excels at using pictures to tell the parts of the story his unreliable narrators omit or evade. "There is someone who saw me already," admits the little fish, about a goggle-eyed crab. "But he said he wouldn't tell anyone which way I went. So I am not worried about that." The spread tells another story; the crab betrays the small fish in a heartbeat, pointing to its hiding place, "where the plants are big and tall and close together." Readers hope for the best, but after the big fish darts in, only one of them emerges, sporting the hat. It's no surprise that the dominant color of the spreads is black. Tough times call for tough picture books. Ages 4–8. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Oct.)
From the Publisher
Any picture book needs to bridge the worlds of adult and child, whether they are the tucker and the tucked in or the experienced reader and the sounder-outer. The negotiations between what grown-ups and children want, and between what adults are familiar with and children are still apprehending, provide the tension that makes children’s books possible. Whether puttering along with Little Tug on the surface or swimming with the fish in the dark below, we’re all in this water together.
—New York Times
This is, quite simply, an outstanding book—and that ain’t no fish tale.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review)
Simplicity is key in both text and illustrations. The black underwater provides the perfect background for the mostly gray-toned fish and seaweed while the monochromatic palette strips the artwork down to essential, yet exquisite design. Movement is indicated with a trail of small white bubbles. This not-to-be-missed title will delight children again and again.
—School Library Journal (starred review)
Klassen’s authorial debut, I WANT MY HAT BACK (2011), became one of the surprise picture-book hits of the year, and while it’s tempting to see this follow-up as a sequel, it’s really only related in its hat-theft theme, animal characters, deadpan humor, and a suggestively dark conclusion. . . . The simple, dramatic tension and macabre humor that’s right at a kid’s level of deviousness mesh splendidly with Klassen’s knack for tiny, telling details and knockout page turns. Who knew hat thievery was such a bottomless well?
—Booklist (starred review)
Klassen excels at using pictures to tell the parts of the story his unreliable narrators omit or evade.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Klassen combines spare text and art to deliver no small measure of laughs in another darkly comic haberdashery whodunit...Hats off!
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
The eyes have it in Klassen’s latest hat book (I WANT MY HAT BACK). Klassen manages to tell almost the whole story through subtle eye movements and the tilt of seaweed and air bubbles. . . Darkly hilarious.
—The Horn Book (starred review)
This would make a remarkable read-aloud for students to interpret the ending in various ways. (Highly Recommended)
—Library Media Connection
Jon Klassen once again uses short, declarative sentences, a minimalist palette and a hat to deliver a wallop of an ethics lesson. Having explored the victim's point of view in his debut picture book, I WANT MY HAT BACK, Klassen now shines a light into the mind of a thief. . .Klassen once again gets the tone pitch perfect. His bare-bones text and enigmatic images leave the proceedings open to interpretation. And the ethics questions could keep kids debating for days, laughing all the way to consensus.
—Shelf Awareness
Absolutely gorgeous artwork (digitally assembled Chinese ink illustrations) and an utterly original voice in the picture book world.
—Apartment Therapy
Klassen once again gets the tone pitch perfect. His bare-bones text and enigmatic images leave the proceedings open to interpretation. And the ethics questions could keep kids debating for days, laughing all the way to consensus. (Starred Review)
—Shelf Awareness for Readers
A title that may well earn the moniker of Most Anticipated Picture Book of the Fall 2012 Season.
—A Fuse #8 Production (SLJ blog)
The central idea here is clever, but it’s the pacing that is impeccable. Like a classic comedy routine, the interplay of text, art, and page turns allow any adult reading this aloud to make it a hit.
—Calling Caldecott (Horn Book blog)
School Library Journal
PreS-Gr 1—With this new creation, Klassen repeats the theme from I Want My Hat Back (Candlewick, 2011), but with a twist. The narrator here is the thief-a small, self-confident fish who has pilfered a little blue bowler from a big sleeping fish. He wastes no time or words in confessing his crime as he swims across the page announcing, "This hat is not mine. I just stole it." He continues his narrative with no regrets, but with a bit of rationalizing ("It was too small for him anyway.") as he swims to his hiding place, unaware that the big fish is in quiet pursuit. Readers, of course, are in on this little secret. When the two disappear into a spread filled with seaweed, the narration goes silent, and youngsters can easily surmise what happens as the big fish reemerges with the tiny blue bowler atop his head. Simplicity is key in both text and illustrations. The black underwater provides the perfect background for the mostly gray-toned fish and seaweed while the monochromatic palette strips the artwork down to essential, yet exquisite design. Movement is indicated with a trail of small white bubbles. This not-to-be-missed title will delight children again and again.—Carolyn Janssen, Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County, Cincinnati, OH
Kirkus Reviews
Klassen combines spare text and art to deliver no small measure of laughs in another darkly comic haberdashery whodunit. While not a sequel to I Want My Hat Back (2011), the story does include a hat, a thief (a little fish) and a wronged party (a big fish). This time, first-person narration follows the thief, whose ego far outstrips his size as he underestimates the big fish's tracking abilities. Meanwhile, much of the art follows the big fish on his hunt, creating a pleasing counterpoint with the text. For example, a page reading "…he probably won't notice that it's gone" shows not the thieving piscine narrator but the big fish looking up toward the top of his own bare head; he clearly has noticed that his hat is gone, and the chase is on! Sublime book design exploits the landscape format, with dogged movement from left to right across the double-page spreads. This culminates in a page reading "I knew I was going to make it," as the little fish disappears on the recto into plants evocative of Leo Lionni's setting in Swimmy (1963), while a narrow-eyed big fish enters the verso. The little fish is clearly doomed--a fact coyly confirmed by wordless page turns revealing the big fish swimming away, now from right to left, hat firmly on head. Hats off! (Picture book. 4-8)
