THIS IS NOT MY HAT by Jon Klassen

 Bibliography
Klassen, Jon. THIS IS NOT MY HAT. Massachusetts: The Candlewick Press, 2012. ISBN9780763655990.


Plot Summary
The little fish has some nerve to steal and brag about taking the big fish's hat.  The big fish didn't notice his hat was missing since he is too busy slumbering.  The little fish proceeds to swim to the place where the plants are big and tall and where no one can find him.  He even goes on to say how someone saw him heading into the tall weeds and he feels assured they will not tell the big fish.  His luck runs out when the big fish is close on his tail and finds him in the big and tall plants.  The big fish comes out of the big and tall plants with his hat on and as content as can be.  Too bad the little fish is nowhere to be seen!


Critical Analysis
Talk about a good reason why you should not take what is not yours or steal.  The lesson learned is that there can be some major consequences to your actions...so be careful, very carful with the choices you make.  The author did an amazing job showing the character's expressions and feeling throughout the story.  The author kept the mood intriguing and suspenseful by including short phrases and little wording.  Making the audience wonder what is going to happen to the little fish. 

The colors the illustrator chose also were perfect for the setting and plot of the story.  The light brown and white bubbles against the black background allowed us to see the action of the swaying weeds and movement going on in the story.  The black background set a suspenseful scene and kept the reader intrigued and highly interested in the story.  This is a great book to make predictions and included some foreshadowing, 


Great ending!!!


Awards and Review Excerpts
~2013 Caldecott Medal
~2013 Texas 2X2 Reading

~Amazon.com Review

Amazon Best Books of the Year 2012: Jon Klassen first surprised readers with his runaway best seller, I Want My Hat Back, and his follow-up, This Is Not My Hat is an inside out version that is even more fun. Not only did Klassen go with a dark color scheme where the last was light, the action takes place underwater with much of the story told through the expressive illustrations of sea creatures. From the little fish who steals a bowler hat to the crab who sells him out with eyeballs pointing the way, there are lots of laughs along with lessons. This time Klassen created an ambiguous ending that invites lively conversation about the possible outcomes and ultimately leaves it up to the child to decide the little fish's fate with every reading. --Seira Wilson ng List
 

~From 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.")

Connections
1. Compare and contrast the books This Is Not My Hat and Rainbow Fish.  By using a double bubble map the children will be able to see the similarities and differences of these two fish.
2. Have a police officer/community helper come speak to the class about how stealing is not the best choice you can make and why.
3. Talk about the difference between borrowing, taking, buying, and stealing.  Take this opportunity to discuss the meaning of the words and look for similes and antonyms. 

The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? by Mo WIlliams

The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? by Mo Willems

Biography

Mo, Williams. The Duckling Gets a Cookie!?. New York: Hyperion Books for Children, 2012.  ISBN9781406340099.

Plot Summary

The duckling gets a cookie just by asking politely.  The pigeon can't believe it and goes on a rant about how he always asks for things and never gets them.  He fusses about, "How it's not fair" and how the "Duckling always gets everything".  The story takes a twist when the duckling generously offers the cookie to the pigeon. The theme of the story is as simple as to use your manners.

Critical Analysis

Kids will be familiar with the Pigeon’s strong emotions, but here they aren’t the ones out of control, which makes the gentle lesson in behavior a great one.  The author showed how the duckling can get things by using his manners.  The Pigeon may not get the Duckling’s message about manners and unselfishness, but young listeners will.  The characters are entertaining and the author used lots of expression and humor. 

Awards and Review Excerpts

2013 Irma Black Award Finalist
IRA Children’s Choices
Beginning Readers, 2013
 

First up is SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, who give the story it's 3rd starred review.  They say:

"Confident, un-ornamented strokes characterize Willems’s seemingly simple illustrations. Postures and expressions are spot-on, conveying the nuances of Pigeon’s feelings and the comedy in his passionate behavior. While just plain fun to read aloud, this book is an excellent conversation starter on the topics of politeness and making reasonable requests. This meta-tale that references the gamut of the Pigeon oeuvre will please fans and newcomers alike."

Connections

1. Discuss the importance of using our manners and nice words.  Make an anchor chart about how to use our manners and post in the classroom.
2. Have the students come up with synonyms for the word nice.
3. Other books to read about manners:
Sierra, Judy.  Mind Your Manners, B.B. Wolf.  Random House Children's Book, 2012. ISBN9780307835322
Krouse, Amy.  Cookies: Bite-Size Lessons.  Harper Collins, 2008. ISBN9780060580810

Millions of Cats Book by Wanda Gag

Bibliography
Gág, Wanda. Millions of Cats. New York: Coward-McCann, 1928. ISBN 0698200918


Plot Summary
Millions of Cats, is a story about an old couple that decide to find a cat to cure their loneliness.  The old man sets out to the hills in search for a cat.  But when the old man looks out across the land filled with millions of cats, he decides he must take them all home because he cannot decide which one is prettiest.  The old woman, however, realizing the inability of picking so many cats, decides that the cats might be better judges of their own prettiness than either she or her husband and decides that they pick amongst themselves the prettiest one. When the cats prove incapable of picking one cat, they eat each other up, until only the homeliest kitten is left. Surprisingly, it is this scraggly, ugly kitten that turns out to be the prettiest cat in the whole world in the eyes of the old couple, but only after it has been nursed back to health


Critical Analysis
The author did a great job in grabbing the reader's attention when using the rhyme: "Cats here, cats there, cats and kittens everywhere, hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats."  It was pretty clear that the cats were the main characters and the old woman and the old man are flat characters. 

My 7 year old daughter enjoyed this story even though it had black and white illustrations and it was written in 1928.  When I finished reading it she said," it does not matter what you look like."   This is true in that the prettiest, smartest, or wealthiest is not always the one that ends up being the best.  A wonderful lesson learned from reading this book. 


Review  Excerpts
~1929 NEWBERY MEDAL
~The New York Times: “A perennial favorite.”
~Wanda Gag posthumous recieved the 1958 Lewis Carroll Shelf Award for Millions of Cats and the 1977 Kerlan Award for the body of her work.

Connections
I would follow up with asking the following questions:
~Why did the old man have a hard time selecting a cat?
~Who gets to decide whether or not something is pretty?
~What qualities do you look for in a new pet?

Other cat book to read:
Litwin, Eric.  Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes. New York: Harper, 2010. ISBN 9780007584956