Book Review: The Hat by Jan Brett
The Hat, written and illustrated by Jan Brett, was the first of the author/illustrator’s books that our family read (thank you Aunt Charlotte). Brett excels at bringing to life traditional folk tales and stories based in a multitude of cultures. She retells cultural classics and creates her own original stories. Her writing is simple and lively, while her rich illustrations strongly reflect the cultural origins of each story.
The Hat is set is rural Scandinavia. Winter is on its way, and Lisa, a little girl whose fair coloring and colorful clothing reflect her Nordic roots, is pulling her woolens out to air in the late fall sunshine. As she hangs them on the line, a strong wind blows one of her red and white stockings off the line. It lands on the ground where curious Hedgie the hedgehog finds it. He noses inside and soon the stocking is stuck to his prickles.
Hedgie has a new hat and he’s embarrassed. Hedgie crosses the farm wearing the stocking and along the way meets a series of barnyard animals and the farm cat and dog. Each asks him why he has a stocking on his head. Hedgie answers each time that it’s his new hat and that it will keep him warm in the winter. As he is asked again and again, Hedgie becomes more and more impatient, while the other farm animals hurry to the clothesline to get their own winter hats. It’s a simple, fun story that younger children will appreciate.
Where Jan Brett really shines is her illustrations. The detail is extraordinary. Brett is a gifted artist whose use of color and light brings stories to life. And, Kids of all ages will adore how the pages are structured (and this is consistent across of Brett’s books published to-date). Each page has a central image that follows the overall narrative. There is an image to the left and above that add additional details on the current point in the story (and usually point to a subtext that is happening concurrent with the main story being told through the text). To the right of the main image is an illustration that foreshadows the next step in the story.
For example, at one point in The Hat Hedgie runs into the farm dog and her puppies. The central illustrations shows little Hedgie, the mother dog and her puppies. The image to the left shows Lisa waxing her skis in preparation for winter. The image above shows the clothesline, missing several of Lisa’s woolens. And, the illustration to the left is of the farm pig. Some readers understand the subtext after the first reading. Others will figure it out days, weeks or even months later and will delight in the new story the book is telling them. Don’t spoil the surprise. There’s real joy in figuring this out for yourself (sorry to have spoiled it for you if you haven’t read these books yourself).
Ages: 2+ (younger children might not understand the story, but will love the illustrations. This book has years of staying power.)
(To return to the Footy Pajamas store to shop for pajamas, click here.)