The Hat by Jan Brett

The Hat Reviews

• 
  Calista

  I’m never disappointed by a story from Jan Brett. Hedgehog is the center of this amusing story. A little girl is airing out her winter woolens when one sock falls off the clothesline. A curious hedgehog sticks his head in the opening and it gets stuck on his prickles. It’s quite cute. So now he tells all the animals laughing at him that it is a hat.
  
  What I enjoy about the story is on each page in the panels, we see the little girl, on the top we see the clothes line and on the right we see the next animal that will laugh at the hedgehog’s hat. As the pages turn, the items on the clothesline start to dwindle. It’s fun to watch and catch it.
  
  The little girl chases down the hedgehog and gets her glove back and then laughs at all the animals wearing ‘hats’ in the yard.
  
  The kids thought this was amusing as well and they know a Jan Brett book when they see it. They are also fans now as their mother adores them. Well, the whole family does. This got 5 stars all around.
• 
  Darla

  Little Lisa gets out her woolens and hangs them up on the clothesline outside to air them out for winter. Hedgie finds a sock that gets blown off the line. Curiosity results in a sticky situation. All the other animals want to tease him about his new accessory. He is adamant that this new hat of his is the must-have for all in the barnyard. Brett's detailed and charming illustrations show us Lisa going about her day on the left and the next animal to converse with Hedgie on the right. Keep you eye on the clothesline view up top. The wind is having its way and soon Lisa will have a fun surprise when she comes out to collect her winter clothes.
• 
  Karina

  The start of winter is starting on the farm and Lisa washes all her woolen clothes. She hangs them on an outdoor line when one of her socks flies away and lands on Hedgehog's head. All the farm animals make fun of his "hat" but he makes them feel like they are missing out on a fashionable trend and soon Lisa has no clothes on the line.
  
  Very funny and fun to read. Old fashioned drawings which we all enjoyed looking at.
• 
  Jon Nakapalau

  Nice tale of how you can be yourself and others will eventually accept who you are - would recommend for a small child having problems fitting in with a new group.
• 
  Rod Brown

  A hedgehog gets a sock stuck on his head, and to avoid embarrassment he tells the other farm animals it's his stylish new hat, starting a new fad that causes some inconvenience for the little girl of the farm. It's cute, but it's a slightly different but also slightly less satisfying spin on Jan Brett's previous and better book,
  The Mitten.
• 
  Laura

  My two year old has renamed this book, The Sock. This makes a fun read aloud for young children. You are given plenty of opportunities to read using various voices and also make familiar animal sounds found on a farm.
• 
  Sarah

  "THOSE FOOLS WILL TASTE MY REVENGE FOR THEIR INSOLENCE," thought the Hedgehog, probably.
• 
  Amy Bruestle

  Read this as a little kid...I think in 4th grade. Cute.
• 
  Abigail

  When Lisa leaves her woolen garments on the clothes-line to air out, her fallen stocking is picked up by Hedgie the hedgehog, who becomes entangled in it and can't get it off his head. The other animals are inclined to laugh at our erinaceous hero, but Hedgie insists his inadvertent headgear only makes sense, given the cold weather. Hurt nevertheless by the other animals' ridicule, Hedgie retreats toward his den, eventually running into Lisa, who takes her stocking back and explains to him that animals don't wear clothes. Hedgie has the last laugh, as he watches Lisa run after all the other animals, who, convinced by his arguments, have likewise commandeered the young girls' woolen garments...
  
  Written to be a companion to Jan Brett's
  The Mitten, a picture-book retelling of a popular Ukrainian folktale involving a mitten that serves as temporary home to a parade of animals, The Hat is an original winter-time tale, one that also features a human garment and a group of animals. Hedgie is an adorable hero for Brett's tale - I have a soft spot for hedgehogs and porcupines - and I appreciated the humorous ending, in which all the other animals, after initially laughing at Hedgie, decide that they too want a warm piece of clothing. The artwork, as is to be expected from Brett, is lovely, capturing the charm of a wintry landscape. Apparently Brett traveled to the Danish island of Funen, home of Hans Christian Andersen, for visual inspiration for her artwork. As always, I found her animals and landscapes particularly appealing here. Recommended to all Jan Brett fans, and to anyone looking for amusing animal stories for the picture-book set.
• 
  Janice

  Little girl takes her woolen clothes out of storage and puts them on a clothesline to air out for the winter. One of the pieces gets blown away and discovered by a curious hedgehog. He accidentally winds up wearing it. The other animals tease him, but he wears it so proudly that once the little girl catches up to him and takes it back that she now has to chase down the rest of her wardrobe on other farm animals.
  
  The drawings are beautiful. The borders add to the story. It is just a playful romp that children will enjoy again and again as they discover new things in each drawing.
  
• 
  Sarah Sammis

  The Hat is a cute story about embarrassment, friendship and popularity. As with Bringing Down the Moon, the main characters are animals. In this one the protagonist is a hedgehog who wants nothing more than to get a stocking off his back before all his friends think he's stupid for wearing such a ridiculous "hat."
  
  Meanwhile, all his friends, having seen his hat on such a cold winter's day see the wisdom of keeping warm and decide to pinch clothing from the woman's laundry line where she had hung her winter woolens to air out. One by one the woman loses her clothing set out to dry: the other stocking, a pair of gloves, a cap, a waistcoat, a sweater and a scarf.
  
  I liked this book because it reminded me of Sean and his friends. Sean will take things he's learned at home and teach his friends and then everyone else is soon doing what he has been doing. Or he'll come home having learned something from his friends. This book captures how children creature their own culture at school perfectly.
• 
  Vivian

  Our two performers enjoyed sharing this book to pre-schoolers at library story time. One was the hedgehog and the other was all the other animals.
  
  Here's a link if you'd like a hedgehog paperdoll:
  http://janbrett.com/costumes_main_cho...
  
  Here's a link if you'd like to make a hedgehog hat:
  
  http://janbrett.com/hedgie_hat_projec...
  
  Here's a link if you'd like to print some hedgehog stickers:
  
  http://janbrett.com/hedgie_stickers.htm
  
  Here's a link to make a paper plate craft hedgehog:
  
  http://janbrett.com/the_mitten_projec...
• 
  Nancy Kotkin

  Story: 5 stars
  Art: 5 stars
  
  A funny animal parody about influence and trendsetting. A prickly hedgehog accidentally gets a wool sock stuck on his head. When his barnyard friends laugh at him, he convinces them that it is the latest animal fashion, even though they all know that animals don't wear clothes. Suddenly they all want a wooly hat too. Notice the woolens disappearing from the clothesline. Great resource to help kids figure out what happens next in the story from visual clues.
  
• 
  Meg McGregor

  This book is illustrated by Jan Brett! Who wouldn't love any book by this highly accomplished illustrator? And Hedgie is the most awesome hedgehog in literature!
  
  Hedgie, along with his barnyard friends, have a hilarious time with the laundry. (A lot more fun than I have ever had, that's for sure!)
• 
  Menolly Harper

  This book is great! The story is very cute! And the illustrations are a great tool for helping young children learn comprehension skills as the pictures in the margins allow young children to guess what happens next. This is great for interactive reading! My preschooler and I really enjoyed reading this together!
• 
  Dianna

  My baby liked this book, being a fan of The Mitten. I thought it was very well done and I loved the pictures, of course, and all the fun details that Jan Brett adds. I wouldn't recommend the board book edition, though; it's too small and the animals are hard to see, especially for a baby.
• 
  Amanda J

  This is a really nice board book. The colors are a little muted but the illustrations are beautiful and very detailed. The story is a lot of fun and perfect for the winter season.
• 
  little dumpling

  I've always loved this book since I was a child, it's just adorable.
• 
  Amber

  Adorable! Hedgie uses a stocking as a hat.
• 
  Becca Tillotson

  Always the most beautiful pictures in her book, storylines are often a bit weak though.
• 
  Angelina

  3.5 stars.
• 
  Abby Pratt

  Hedgie ends up with a new “hat,” only to be ridiculed by the other animals. His adventure in his new hat results in him being ashamed that he cannot take it off. Only when he is being chased by Lisa, do the other animals follow along in wearing her clothes and Hedgie gets the final say in telling them how ridiculous they all look. The book evokes a chuckle, but also calls on the reader to think about how to treat others who have their own unique sense of style. The book does a great job on focusing how to embrace who you are, no matter what others say about you. The work of Jan Brett, provides details that bring to life the journey of Hedgie. Her illustrations bring the reader into the story and invite engagement in the journey.
  
• 
  Brittany Smith

  This is one of the books I remember from my childhood. My mom really liked Jan Brett so I think we owned most of her picture books. The version I read recently was the board book version. I know sometimes that board books are shortened versions of the originals, but I couldn’t tell if this one was shortened are not. The story felt complete.
  
  As always Jan Brett has great illustrations and cute stories! This is a great story about trends and how silly they can be.
  
  See my full review at
  PerfectlyTolerable.com
• 
  Melissa Namba

  A cute story about how people will follow others without thinking. I liked the quick thinking of the hedgehog. I liked that there were little panes along with the hedgehog story showing what the little girl was doing at the same time. The ending picture looked like something you would see in an illustrated version of Animal Farm. A fun story.
• 
  Meg McGregor

  It is Jan Brett! Who wouldn't love any book by this highly accomplished illustrator? And Hedgie is the most awesome hedgehog in literature!
  
  Hedgie, along with his barnyard friends, have a hilarious time with the laundry. (A lot more fun than I have ever had, that's for sure!)
• 
  Meg McGregor

  It is Jan Brett! Who wouldn't love any book by this highly accomplished illustrator? And Hedgie is the most awesome hedgehog in literature!
  
  Hedgie, along with his barnyard friends, have a hilarious time with the laundry. (A lot more fun than I have ever had, that's for sure!)