Saturday, July 7, 2012

My favorite book this summer...



"A classic whodunit with several twists, Klassen's writing exceeds our expectations once again with a tantalizing tale of theft, lies and deception set around a seemingly ordinary, every day forest. The protagonist, while no angel himself, is one we can all root for, the everybear that we all see ourselves as.

Overall, this book is a taut thriller laden thick with metaphor and imagery. Will our sleuthing protagonist find his hat? Read Jon Klassen's I Want My Hat Back to find out."
-review from YouTube subscriber
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4 comments:

  1. PhylJuly 7, 2012 at 6:49 PM

    My 23 year old son and I had a good conversation about this book. He lives in Boston and found it in a book sale at Harvard, I believe, of all places. We agreed that the ending really disturbed us both, at least in its presentation as a children's book. What is the author really trying to say? Curious on your take about the rather unusual ending, to say the least.

    Keep in mind that I am NOT squeamish, and love a little creepiness (love the work of Edward Gorey for example and his alphabet book Gashlycrumb Tinies, which is about as macabre as you can get). But I've never actually read it to my students, because I was worried about someone getting upset by the general theme of it (everyone meets his demise in one way or another).

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    Replies
    1. Hope Hunter KnightJuly 7, 2012 at 8:05 PM

      Oh, I thought it was hilarious. My 15 year old daughter and I came across it and we were intrigued by the illustration on the front, and rolled with laughter at the end. Yes, a tad dark, but I dont find it disturbing at all. A little mischievous, yes, but the bear is friendly and even helps the turtle out. I'm a big Gorey fan myself and I've used his illustrations in class, but not from the Tinies, as that is way too dark for elementary kids.
      I don't think this is any different than the coyote planning his meal of roadrunner in Looney Tunes, or Elmer Fudd hunting wabbit. I'm looking forward to a lesson on emphasis using the red pointy hat. Oh yeah, it's on!

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    2. Hope Hunter KnightJuly 7, 2012 at 8:24 PM

      Also, the recommended age for this book is 4-8 (although 48 year olds will love it too) and I think it may be a tad much for some younger kindergarteners, so I'm thinking second grade may be a perfect fit. Here's a NYTimes review -
      http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/13/books/review/not-just-another-bear-story.html

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  2. rumaJuly 20, 2012 at 2:28 AM

    Hello, Hope Hunter Knight.

    　　Your work is embraced in your gentleness.
    　　And sweet message charms my heart.

    　　The prayer for all peace.

    Have a good weekend. From Japan, ruma❃

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