Do your students struggle with responsible-decision making? Read on to find I Want My Hat Back activities and comprehension questions to promote responsible-decision making, honesty and integrity.

In I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen, a bear calmly asks the other animals if they have seen his hat until it suddenly remembers where it last saw the hat. I Want My Hat Back focuses on the fact that lying and stealing are wrong and they come with consequences.

I Want My Hat Back gives you the opportunity to promote:

• responsible-decision making
• honesty and integrity
• asking questions
• perseverance
• manners and politeness
• ownership

You can also use the book to teach

• sequencing and retelling
• inference
• cause and effect
• personification
• dialogue
• point of view
• problem and solution

I Want My Hat Back Summary

A bear has lost his red, pointy hat and wants it back. He patiently and politely asks each animal he comes across whether they have seen his hat. Each animal denies seeing it. The bear feels dejected and worries he will never see his hat again. 

As the bear loses hope, a deer comes by and asks what his hat looks like. As the bear describes the hat, he sparks his memory and remembers where he saw his hat. The bear jumps up and returns to confront the guilty animal and recover his hat.

I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen

Illustrator: Jon Klassen

Publisher: Walker Books (2012)

ISBN: 9781406338539

Take a look inside

Jon Klassen's Official Website

Book Series

• I Want My Hat Back (2012)
• This Is Not My Hat (2014)
• We Found a Hat (2017)

Related Books

• The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka
• Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne
• The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt
• This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen
• The Great Paper Caper by Oliver Jeffers
• Wolves by Emily Gravett

I Want My Hat Back Story Activities and Resources

I have created literacy graphic organizers for I Want My Hat. You can find them at my Teachers Pay Teachers store. There are many activities for each literacy area to differentiate depending on your student’s ability/age. They include activities for:

• Cause & Effect
• Character Traits and Analysis
• Making Connections
• Point of View
• Problem and Solution
• Retelling, Sequencing and  Summarizing
• Inference and Prediction

*Click on these links to discover book recommendations on these topics.

I Want My Hat Back Activities and Links

• Amnesty: Using Fiction to Explore Human Rights
• Candlewick: Jon Klassen’s Hat Trilogy Teachers’ Guide
• P4C: I Want my Hat Back activities
• Picturebook Makers: John Klassen
• The Prindle Institute for Ethics: I Want My Hat Back by Jon KlassenThanda: Story Study: I Want My Hat Back

FREE I Want My Hat Back Activities

Would you like free graphic organisers for I Want My Hat Back?

I have a freebie that is part of a larger resource so that you can try it out in your classroom today!

Click on the form below to get access to the FREE activities.

Click on the image to the left to see the full resource on Teachers Pay Teachers.

I Want My Hat Back Read-Aloud Questions

Read-aloud sessions are a wonderful way for children to understand the connection between written text and spoken language. You can model reading habits, strategies, fluency, tone, and eye contact. You can also introduce different genres, authors and illustrators.

• How did the illustrations help you understand the emotions and thoughts of the characters in I Want My Hat Back?
• Why do you think the rabbit stole the bear's hat? Why did it lie to the bear about taking its hat?
• What is your opinion of how the bear dealt with the rabbit once it found its hat? 
• What would have been a different way for the bear to deal with the rabbit stealing its hat?
• Why do you think the deer asking the bear about its hat is an important part of the story?
• Why do you think the illustrator made p. 19 red? How does red make you feel?
• Why do you think Jon Klassen leaves some pages wordless?
• Do you think the consequences of stealing the hat were appropriate? Why or why not?
• What if the rabbit didn’t steal the bear’s hat?
• Is there a difference between the rabbit lying and the bear lying to the squirrel? If so, in what way?

You can find a full set of discussion cards in the I Want My Hat Back Activity Bundle or as a separate pack.

I Want My Hat Back Video

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