The Hat

Rating:
Summary: ANIMALS DON'T WEAR CLOTHES ------ DO THEY ?
Review: .

This book takes you into a beautiful winter wonderland.

Inspired by a visit to Hans Christian Andersen's home in Denmark, Jan Brett's latest work is a triumph of the illustrator's art.

The story is simple. It is in part inspired by Jan's earlier success with "The Mitten". We see Hedgie the hedgehog getting his nose stuck inside a woollen sock.

The beauty of the book is in the clever use of the double page format of the illustrations. We have a large central panel, which is almost like a window, where we see most of the activity. Along the top of the page we have a long narrow panel which shows the clothesline, with the items gradually disappearing as they are borrowed by the animals. On the left side we have an oval "mirror" which shows young Lisa (the owner of the hat and other clothes on the line) going about her household chores.

In the right panel we have another small oval pane, which tells us who is coming next. We get to see the succession of animals (hedgehog, hen, goose, cat, dog, pig, and horse) each eventually wearing an item of clothing they have stolen off the line. We don't see what the animals have done in the main frame until the end of the book. It's one of those picture books that you can go back to many times to pick up the various clues.

The use of the four windows on each double page gives an almost split-screen cinematic quality to the book. We get a multi-threaded and linked storyline which any web oriented reader would appreciate. This innovative approach works very well and we can expect to see more picture books pick up on this story telling technique.

The illustrations are enhanced by the use of warm bright colors within the winter greys, from the Danish flag flying on the thatched farmhouse, to the red colors of Lisa's clothes, to the vivacity of the farm animals. The accuracy and beauty of the drawings is outstanding. The keen observer will even see moss and lichen growing on the north side of the trees. We know this because we can see the dim winter sunshine on the southern skyline when looking through the forest.

"The Hat" has to be one of the classiest children's picture books published in recent years. It will bring great joy to both children and their parents.

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Rating:
Summary: Charming Book Treasure
Review: A little girl's stocking is discovered by a curious hedge hog when it falls from the clothesline. "Hedgie" gets the thing stuck on his head and so becomes the subject of lots of teasing by his barnyard animal friends. The ending is a cute surprise and Jan Brett's gorgeous illustrations hint at what will happen at the turn of each page. A charming book for reading aloud to ages 3 and up.

Rating:
Summary: Appealing story for all ages!
Review: Another Brett story to treasure! I was so thrilled to see my husband had picked up four Brett stories for me to read to our sons ~~ I love her illustrations and I love her story. She has an imagination that is just beguiling and refreshing to read.

This one is about Lisa who takes her woolens out of her chest to air out in preparation for winter. Then when the wind blew one of her stockings off the line, a hedgehog gets in trouble when he couldn't get it off his head after he poked to see what was in the stocking. Because of his new fashion statement, the other animals in the barnyard decided to be fashionable too and "borrowed" Lisa's clothes to wear as hats.

The pictures are hilarious as well as beautifully-drawn! My sons love looking at her pictures. I love reading it. It's not long and drawn-out like a lot of children's books. It's whimiscal and imaginative.

This is another must-read for every child and her/his parents.

2-4-04

Rating:
Summary: a classic
Review: As an early childhood educator and a lover of good literature for children, I am a huge fan of Jan Brett. This title won't disappoint for reading aloud with young children. The illustrations are beautiful and add a whole other layer to the story, making this book one you and your child can read again and again noticing something new on every page.

Be sure to check out Jan Brett's other titles, and visit her website at www.janbrett.com. It may be the best author website I've seen, with lots of activities and props to print for use at school or home.

Rating:
Summary: Clever Techniques of Foreshadowing
Review: Jan Brett's picture book, The Hat, is about a hedgehog that gets a little girl's stocking stuck on his head. He says it is his new hat, but everyone makes fun of him. Eventually, though, all the animals pull something off the girl's clothesline to use as a hat. At the end, after she plucks the stocking off of the hedgehog, the little girl chases the other animals around the yard to try to gather her clothes. Illustrations are a wonderful way to enhance a story. They help the reader to really see what is happening. Jan Brett uses borders in her illustrations. Her borders inform the reader of what is going on in other parts of the story while at the same time foreshadowing what is to come.

Brett incorporates small pictures in her borders to give the reader clues to what is going on in other parts of the story. For example, while the animals are being introduced in the main illustration, illustrations of Lisa, the little girl, appear in the left-hand side of the borders. These pictures show her inside her house doing things such as reading and watering the plants. Later in the story, these illustrations are reversed: Lisa appears in the main picture and the animals appear in the border. This is because Lisa becomes the focus of the story when she finds that the hedgehog is wearing her stocking; whereas, before the animals are the main focus of the story. William Moebius explains this when he says, "the frame enables the reader to identify with a world inside and outside the story" (150). At the top of the border, there is a picture of the clothesline. This shows the progress of the story. Each time an animal takes a piece of clothing, that piece of clothing no longer appears on the clothesline. In Moebius' article, he says that Tomi Ungerer believes that "the design itself tells much of the story" (142). These pictures in the border make The Hat a multidimensional story. The reader knows what is going on with the animals outside while being able to know what Lisa is doing inside.

Brett has a distinctive technique of foreshadowing. She uses the borders of her illustrations to hint at what will come next in the story. On each page, in the right-hand side of the border, the animal that will appear next is shown. For example, the hedgehog is on the right in the border, foreshadowing his appearance on the next page. Once all of the animals have been introduced, Lisa appears in the right of the border, informing the reader that she realizes something is going on. In the second to last page, the hedgehog appears in the border yawning. This picture wraps up the story and informs the reader that the story is almost over. Using the border is an excellent way to foreshadow events. It gives the reader insight into the developing plot while using the main illustration to describe the current events.

The unique style of illustrating that Brett uses serves many purposes simultaneously. The main illustration, large and centered, focuses only on the current situation. The border around that, however, notifies the reader of events that are taking place in the story at the same time as the event that is being focused on in the main illustration. These borders also cue the reader into the event that is about to occur. Brett's borders are important in her stories in order to give the reader the entire picture and to foreshadow the coming events.

Moebius, William. "Introduction to Picturebook Codes." Word and Image 2.2 (1986): 141-158.

Rating:
Summary: a classic
Review: This book is a favorite of St. James' Preschool in Maryland. Since 1993 our logo has been the hedgehog (we've raised several real "Hedgies"!)The children and families love the imaginative story of The Hat. The beautiful drawings perfectly depict this sweet, friendly fellow who cleverly makes the best of a prickly situation!

Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended!
Review: With another Scandinavian winter coming on, it is time for Lisa to pull her woolen clothes out of storage and air them out. However, when one of her woolen stockings blows off the line, it is found by an inquisitive hedgehog that promptly gets it stuck on the quills on his head! As poor Hedgie struggles to pull the stocking off his head, he bumps into each of the farm animals, who take great delight in laughing at him. But, it is Hedgie who has the last laugh, when he tells them that it is his new hat, which will protect him in the coming winter. And now, the other animals are looking for headgear of their own!

Children's author and illustrator Jan Brett is well known for her wonderfully authentic retelling of folktales. This story is entirely Ms. Brett's own, inspired by her pet hedgehog Buffy, and a visit to Jan Christian Anderson's picturesque home on Fuenan, Denmark. As always with Ms. Brett's books, the story is wonderful, and the illustrations are absolute works of art! I loved this book, and am eagerly awaiting the birth of my baby, so that I can have someone to share this book with. Highly recommended!