However, the fact that the bear had eaten up the rabbit to retrieve his hat was a hard story to deliver to my three year old. He asks the squirrel not to ask him anymore questions.Ĭonclusion: I enjoyed the part of the story where the rabbit and the bear protest too loudly especially when they are in the wrong.

The bear protests very loudly that he has neither seen nor eaten a rabbit. A passing squirrel asks the bear if he has seen a rabbit. Next we see the bear sitting down with the hat back on his head. The bear says it is red and pointed and only then is struck with the thought that he has seen the hat recently on someones’s head! He travels back to the rabbit and accuses him of stealing the hat. One woodland creature comes up to him and asks him what the hat looks like. If you like dark humour, beautifully textured illustrations, succinct dialogue, and open-ended stories, then you’re going to love I Want My Hat Back. Later on the bear rather sadly lies down on the ground and worries he may never see his hat again. It makes for great classroom conversations with a philosophical bent (see some conversation starters below). One particular woodland character, a rabbit (wearing a pointed red hat) rather strongly denies that he has stolen the hat and quickly dismisses the bear. He politely asks several woodland creatures that he passes whether they have seen his hat or not. Short Synopsis of the Story: A bear has lost his hat. Main Characters: A bear, a rabbit, a pointed red hat and several woodland characters. The basic problem is that a literal stage adaptation of ‘I Want My Hat Back’ would only be about ten minutes long, and it’s difficult to see how you can convey Klassen’s distinctive visual.

I want my hat back review