This Is Not My Hat
This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen takes about 2 minutes to read aloud (205 words, about 1 sentence a page), and it lands best with children aged 3-6.
Measured read-aloud timeabout 2 minutes
- Words
- 205
- Sentences a page
- 1
- Re-read tolerance
- 5/5still fine on the fortieth reading
- Vocabulary
- 2/5everyday words
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The useful verdict
Why This Is Not My Hat works
A small fish narrates a confident escape plan while the pictures show the big fish waking up and calmly following him - the words and the illustrations tell opposite stories, and a four-year-old catches the contradiction before the words admit it. It is the cleanest example of dramatic irony a preschooler will ever be handed.
Before you buy it
The big fish gets the hat back and the small fish is not seen again. Same off-page ending as I Want My Hat Back, same small number of children who want to talk about it afterwards.
Themes: deadpan humour, theft, fish, dramatic irony, underwater.
Same shape, new story
Books like This Is Not My Hat
Matched by length, refrain, sentence density, and listener—not just subject.
Straight answers
Questions parents ask about This Is Not My Hat
- How long does it take to read This Is Not My Hat aloud?
- About 2 minutes at an unhurried pace, from a word count of 205. Reading it fast shaves perhaps a third off; stopping for questions on every page can double it.
- What age is This Is Not My Hat actually for?
- Ages 3-6 in our testing, which is narrower than the publisher's range. With 1 sentence a page and vocabulary at 2 out of 5, it asks for that much attention span and no more.
- Does This Is Not My Hat survive being read on repeat?
- Yes - this is one of the few that is still fine on the fortieth reading, which is why it scores 5 out of 5 with us.
- Is This Is Not My Hat a good book for a child who will not sit still?
- It helps that it asks the child questions to answer out loud. Those three features are what keep a wriggling toddler listening, far more than the subject matter does.