Talk:This is Not My Hat

Questionable section

What to do with this? HullIntegrity^\ talk / 13:10, 5 February 2016 (UTC)

The eyes have it in Jon Klassen's latest hat book. Klassen manages to tell almost the whole story through subtle eye movements and the tilt of seaweed and air bubbles. The wide-eyed little fish on the cover looks guilty in which he really is. He has taken the tiny bowler from the head of a large sleeping fish and pleads his case to the reader. He explains why he will never be caught — the fish is asleep; he won’t wake up or notice the missing hat; and he won’t know who took it or where the thief has gone. The culprit continues to flee the scene of the crime, moving to “where the plants are big and tall and close together.” Once he reaches his destination, the reader sees the little guy for the last time, disappearing amidst the “safety” of the seaweed. The final spread is laugh-out-loud funny: the large fish now sports the teeny hat, eyes closed and relaxed in slumber. The seaweed wafts innocently, and the air bubbles are calm. Since every claim the little fish makes is belied by the pictures, the reader is in on the joke, by turns rooting for him to get away and nervously hoping he is caught. Klassen continues to be the master of black and brown, and the viewer will not tire of the palette. Little eyes will pore over the end pages, looking for evidence of foul play, but all the interaction between the two characters takes place where the plants grow tall and close together, obscuring the view. It is a double-page spread and it’s nothing but plants: browns and pinks and greens and blacks. These plants are the little fish’s hiding place. On the previous spread, the big fish — furious, vengeful — entered the reeds. And now, the little fish, that compulsive chatterbox, no longer speaks. (He won’t speak again.) The violence happens off-screen: the bear eats the rabbit during a page turn. But in the fish book, at this crucial moment, we are present. After laughing at this little thief, after reveling in knowing more than he does, we find ourselves suddenly helpless. We’re right there, watching, but we can’t see through the plants. Still, we can imagine what’s happening. We can’t help imagining it. And so while we’re present for the book’s dreadful climax, we’re not quite witnesses. It’s a masterful bit of picture-book craftsmanship. What goes on behind the plants is no secret, but it is private. And anyway, it’s the stuff that happens next, when we turn the page and everything has changed, that really matters.

References

That text is copied verbatim from The Horn Book. It is a copyright violation and cannot appear in the article. WikiDan61^ChatMe!_ReadMe!! 13:14, 5 February 2016 (UTC)

• The author needs to paraphrase and use proper quotations only when necessary. HullIntegrity^\ talk / 16:28, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

Development Section

The development section needs to be addressed as it is running to bio. HullIntegrity^\ talk / 13:13, 5 February 2016 (UTC)

First Edition

This section must be renamed. I Want My Hat Back was not the "first edition" of This is Not My Hat. It was a separate book, albeit on a similar theme. WikiDan61^ChatMe!_ReadMe!! 13:36, 5 February 2016 (UTC)

• I agree with the terminology "similarly themed", but will check. HullIntegrity^\ talk / 16:31, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

Description Revision

This is the draft that i am working on. Hectormaldonado99 (talk) 16:35, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

Jon Klassen book manages to write it in a very artist way by using eye movement and writing the words through the description of where the book is taking place. The wide-eyed little fish on the cover looks guilty in which he really is. He has taken the tiny bowler from the head of a large sleeping fish and pleads his case to the reader. He explains why he will never be caught — the fish is asleep; he won’t wake up or notice the missing hat; and he won’t know who took it or where the thief has gone.The culprit is this case is a fish tries to run away moving from place to place throughout the sea like hiding within the plants that are close together. Throughout and towards the end it brings out a funny vibe to the story in which the fish now spots the hat. It gives the feeling to see whether to go for the fish and hope it runs away safely to hoping it to get caught towards his actions.

Jon Klassen continues to be the master of black and brown, and the viewer will not tire of the palette. Little eyes will pore over the end pages, looking for evidence of foul play, but all the interaction between the two characters takes place where the plants grow tall and close together, obscuring the view. It is a double-page spread and it’s nothing but plants: browns and pinks and greens and blacks. These plants are the little fish’s hiding place. On the previous spread, the big fish — furious, vengeful — entered the reeds. And now, the little fish, that compulsive chatterbox, no longer speaks. It’s a masterful bit of picture-book craftsmanship. It gives you the feeling of wanting to know the stuff that happens next when reading this book.

References

@Hectormaldonado99: The second paragraph does not belong in the description section. The statements expressed are critical reactions to the book, and belong in a "Critical reception" section. The opinions must be quoted, and identified as opinions of a specific critic, otherwise it appears to be non-neutral writing about the book. The first sentence of the first paragraph (presuming grammar corrections are forthcoming) is still an opinion, not a fact, and doesn't really belong in an encyclopedia article. WikiDan61^ChatMe!_ReadMe!! 16:45, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

Major overhaul

I have taken the opportunity to give this article a major overhaul, addressing the following concerns:

1. The "Plot" section was a verbatim copy of the plot description that appears in several online sources, constituting a copyright violation. It was also written in a tone entirely inappropriate for an encyclopedia.
2. The section describing I Want My Hat Back has been removed; if an article is needed about that book, it can be written, but this article should not contain a complete description of that book, since that material is off-topic.
3. The "Revised edition" section has been removed, as there is no indication that This is Not My Hat is a revised edition of anything, but rather a completely separate book.
4. The "Development" section has been removed, as this was merely a copy of biographical material already available at Jon Klassen, and did not describe the development of the book at all.
5. The lead has been corrected for concise expression, and to remove the indication that an earlier edition had been published.

-- WikiDan61^ChatMe!_ReadMe!! 20:53, 10 February 2016 (UTC)

GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:This is Not My Hat/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: Ceranthor (talk · contribs) 18:52, 24 March 2019 (UTC)

I will review this. I am participating in the WikiCup. ceranthor 18:52, 24 March 2019 (UTC)

• Thanks. I wish I could, but I've been trying to climb this rock all day. Drmies (talk) 18:53, 24 March 2019 (UTC)
  • Drmies I hope that's a literal and not metaphorical rock. Thanks Ceranthor for your willingness to do this review. Best, Barkeep49 (talk) Best, Barkeep49 (talk) 19:02, 24 March 2019 (UTC)
    • Barkeep49, did you read the first book? ;) Drmies (talk) 19:05, 24 March 2019 (UTC)

      Drmies Clearly I have not though I have collected sources which could be used if anyone ever wants to turn it from a redirect into a real article. I found Klassen delightful and am sad that none of his Caldecott acceptance remains after you (fairly) trimmed out the paragraph as excessive detail in background and publication. Best, Barkeep49 (talk) 19:18, 24 March 2019 (UTC)

Prose

Lead

• I'd link Unreliable narrator

 Done

• "The story is told through the unreliable narration of a little fish, who has stolen a hat from a big fish and what happens when the big fish wakes up." - Grammatically, this sentence doesn't work as is. I'd reword; the issue is that "and what happens when the big fish wakes up." doesn't fit what precedes it.

revised.Best, Barkeep49 (talk)

• "until Klassen took a suggestion to change what animals were in the story. " - "which", not "what"

 Done

• " In addition to several starred reviews" - What does this mean? That they received "several stars" or that they were well-received? Either way, I don't think it works; just say "in addition to positive reviews"

Changing it to positive in the lead makes sense so  Done. Best, Barkeep49 (talk)

• "he book won the 2013 Caldecott Medal and the 2014 Kate Greenaway Medal becoming the first book to win both awards. The book was also a commercial success." - lots of repetition of "book" in close proximity

 Done

Background and publication

• "Klassen then switched to fish.[2]" - but you never clarify what he's switching from - a bear and a rabbit, it looks like? You should mention that. Might also want to mention the specific animals used in the original in the lead as well, but that's not as important as it is here.

Well according to Klassen the rabbit gets eaten at the end of the first book so presumably he'd not have been in any sequel. I tweaked the sentence to read "from mammals to fish" but I don't know that the sourcing tells us more specifically what character Klassen was originally experimenting with and so I don't think it would be correct to be more specific and even this feels like a bit of an inference. Best, Barkeep49 (talk)

• "In 2014 an audiobook read by John Keating and accompanied by string instruments to represent the fish was released.[7]" - Wait, how would string instruments represent the fish? Isn't the fish the narrator? And which fish - the smaller or larger one? Can you clarify?

The source mentions how it's done like in Peter in the Wolf so I have added that context. I haven't listened to it so I can't say but the big fish never speaks so I'm presuming that the music cues represent the actions on wordless pages. Best, Barkeep49 (talk)

Plot

• " The little fish remains convinced that the theft will not be found out, but at the end of the story the big fish is wearing the hat." - is there any explanation for how the big fish reacquires the hat?

It's intentionally left ambiguous in the text - this ambiguity is directly addressed in the first sentence of the next section. Most people (including me) seem to think the little fish was eaten but we have no textual evidence for that and unlike in I Want My Hat Back I didn't have a source with Klassen giving his authorial statement of what happened. Best, Barkeep49 (talk)

Writing and illustrations

• "The book suggests both not to steal but that if you do steal not to get caught.[8]" - wordy

I could make it two sentences that would be the roughly the same number of total words if it helps? I'm kind of stumped because if it's unclear I can think of ways to add words to clarify but can't figure out a way to express that idea with fewer words. Best, Barkeep49 (talk)

• "The reader is invited to both cheer for the little fish's escape and for the little fish to be punished for the theft.[12][13] " - not sure "invited" is the best word choice

 Done

• "Critics wondered if the book's success was a sign that even young children were able to pick-up on ironic humor[14][15] " - don't need "even"

 Done

• "The perspective of the illustrations also never change" - subject/verb don't agree

 Done

Reception and awards

• "This is Not My Hat received favorable reviews including starred reviews from Booklist" - same note as above about starred reviews

Starred reviews is a term in the field of book reviews denoting a book of particular distinction. It's on my list to write an article about someday but for now I could add a note as I did here. Best, Barkeep49 (talk)

• " from Booklist which praised the books humor and notes its "suggestively dark conclusion"[16]," - switching verb tenses

 Done

• "This is Not My Hat received favorable reviews including starred reviews from Booklist which praised the books humor and notes its "suggestively dark conclusion"[16], The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books which called the book "quite simply, an outstanding book, The Horn Book Magazine[12], Publishers Weekly writing "Klassen excels at using pictures to tell the parts of the story his unreliable narrators omit or evade"[18] and School Library Journal.[17]" - too many ideas for one sentence. Maybe split into two or even three sentences to allow you to provide the quotes without overextending the sentence length!

 Done

• "In a highly recommend review for Library Media Connection library Lisa Wright writes, " - "highly recommend review"? What does that mean?

It's their equivalent of starred. I put it in quotes to help clarify. Best, Barkeep49 (talk)

• "" The narrative parallels the illustrations" - extra space

 Done

• "Library Media Connection library" - Is the second "library" a typo?

Should have been librarian denoting who Lisa Wright is. Best, Barkeep49 (talk)

• You need to check which of the sources you mention here (newspapers, magazines, etc.) need to be italicized.

 Done

• "the combined sales of it and I Want My Hat Back was more than a 1.5 million copies.[6][19]" - subject/verb don't agree

 Done

• "It was the winner of the 2013 Caldecott Medal" - I'd remention the book title or say "The book" since this is a new paragraph.

 Done

• "was also awarded with a Caldecot Honor that same year for Extra Yarn, " - Is "Extra Yarn" a book? It should be italicized if so.

 Done

• "Caldecott Chair Sandra Imdieke said praised" - extra word?

 Done

• "Klassen is the first person to win both the Greenaway and Caldecott awards for the same work[26][Notes 1]" - Punctuation missing. Also, should be "note 1" rather than "notes 1"

 Done

Image

• "Author Klassen notes that his favorite kind of hat is "A good old-fashioned baseball cap. I wear one all the time, and have since grade school".[1]" - Don't need to include this quote in the image caption. More crufty than encyclopedic.

I've removed it but the guy has written three books about hats and so I found it fun, if not essential, which is why I put it as a caption. Best, Barkeep49 (talk)

References

• What makes 100scopenotes.com a reliable source per WP:RS?

SLJ blogs have editorial controls. The author of this blog is a former member of the Caldecott committee suggesting an appropriate level of expertise to offer opinions. Best, Barkeep49 (talk)

• What makes www.hbook.com a reliable source?

The Horn Book Magazine is a leading, and the oldest, journal dedicated to children's literature. Best, Barkeep49 (talk)

Images

• File:Klassen This Is Not My Hat cover.jpg - checks out
• File:Jon Klassen 2013.jpg - seems to check out

All in all, a solid article. Prose needs a bit of fine-tuning. ceranthor 15:53, 28 March 2019 (UTC)

@Ceranthor: Thanks for your review. See my responses above. Best, Barkeep49 (talk) 16:57, 28 March 2019 (UTC)

@Barkeep49: Going to pass, conditional on one request - can you add the footnote like you did for Crown:_An_Ode_to_the_Fresh_Cut? Otherwise, great work. ceranthor 17:37, 28 March 2019 (UTC)

Ceranthor  Done. Thanks for your energy and efforts in this process. Best, Barkeep49 (talk) 17:51, 28 March 2019 (UTC)