I Want My Hat Back

A bear laments his lost hat, and sets off to find it. He asks a fox and a frog if they’ve seen it, but neither has. The bear then asks a rabbit who is wearing a red pointy hat. The rabbit answers negatively and defensively, ending “Don’t ask me any more questions.” The bear then moves on to ask a turtle, a snake, and an indeterminate creature. None have seen the hat. A deer comes upon the despondent bear and asks him what his hat looked like. Upon recollecting that his hat was red and pointy, the bear snaps to a realization and runs back to the rabbit. He accuses the rabbit of stealing his hat. After a page turn, we see the bear sitting on a rustled patch of ground, wearing the red pointy hat. A squirrel enters and asks the bear if he’s seen a rabbit wearing a hat. The bear answers negatively and defensively, implying he ate the rabbit and ending with “Don’t ask me any more questions”. The squirrel exits, leaving the hatted bear sitting alone.

The book achieved considerable commercial success, spending 48 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.[2] Pamela Paul praised the book in review for The New York Times: "it is a wonderful and astonishing thing, the kind of book that makes child laugh and adult chuckle, and both smile in appreciation ... [it is] a charmingly wicked little book and the debut of a promising writer-illustrator talent."[3] According to the Chicago Tribune, "the joy of this book lies in figuring out the explicit plot from the implicit details in the pictures."[4] There has been some discussion of the ending over the appropriateness of a character killing another without repercussion in a children's book. A bookseller, who "need[ed] to go on record as saying I LOVE this book", reported that some customers love it until they turn the last pages.[5] It made the Kate Greenaway Medal shortlist, and was a Geisel Award honor book.[6]

An animated version of I Want My Hat Back was produced by Weston Woods Studios and Bigfott Studios in 2013.[7] The film was adapted, directed, and animated by Galen Fott. Jon Klassen provided the voice of the deer. It was a nominee for the Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival.[8] It also won second prize for Best Animated Short Film in the Children’s Jury of the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival.[9]

A musical stage adaptation of the book opened on November 12, 2015 at the National Theatre in London.[10] It was directed by Wils Wilson, with book and lyrics by Joel Horwood and music by Arthur Darvill. The production was warmly received; Susannah Clapp of The Guardian hailed the production’s “inspired, homespun magic” and asserted “No one will want their cash back.”[11] The National Theatre production was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Family and Entertainment Show.[12]

In October of 2019, Candlewick Press released a boxed set featuring I Want My Hat Back along with its two companion books (This Is Not My Hat and We Found a Hat), calling it Jon Klassen’s Hat Box.[13]

Trailer for I Want My Hat Back book

Trailer for I Want My Hat Back film