Jennie's Hat

by Ezra Jack Keats

Jennie's favorite aunt is sending her a new hat, and Jennie is sure it will be beautiful. But when the box arrives, the hat inside is very plain. She had imagined a wonderful hat with big colorful flowers and even tries to make her own hat from a straw basket! Jennie is almost ready to give up on her dream when she receives a fanciful surprise from some very special friends. Ezra Jack Keats's timelessly charming illustrations will leave readers wishing for a dream hat of their own.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Storytime, Family, Fantasy, Kids

40 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

Ezra Jack Keats was an American writer and illustrator of children's books. He won the 1963 Caldecott Medal for illustrating The Snowy Day, which he also wrote. Many of Ezra’s stories are about a group of friends growing up in the city. The neighborhood they live in looks like the streets where Ezra grew up in Brooklyn, New York.

He was born Jacob Ezra Katz, the third child of Polish-Jewish immigrants Benjamin Katz and Augusta Podgainy. The family was very poor. Jack, as he was known, was artistic from an early age, and joyfully made pictures out of whatever scraps of wood, cloth and paper that he could collect. Benjamin Katz, who worked as a waiter, tried to discourage his son, insisting that artists lived terrible, impoverished lives. Nevertheless, he sometimes brought home tubes of paint, claiming, "A starving artist swapped this for a bowl of soup."

With little encouragement at home, Keats sought validation for his skills at school and learned about art at the public library. He received a medal for drawing on graduating from Junior High School 149. Although unimpressive-looking, the medal meant a great deal to him, and he kept it his entire life. Keats attended Thomas Jefferson High School, where he won a national contest run by Scholastic for an oil painting depicting hobos warming themselves around a fire. At his graduation, in January 1935, he was to receive the senior class medal for excellence in art. Two days before the ceremony, Benjamin Katz died in the street of a heart attack. When Keats identified his father's body, he later wrote, "I found myself staring deep into his secret feelings. There in his wallet were worn and tattered newspaper clippings of the notices of the awards I had won. My silent admirer and supplier, he had been torn between his dread of my leading a life of hardship and his real pride in my work."

His father's death curtailed his dream of attending art school. For the remainder of the Great Depression until he was drafted for military service in World War II, Keats took art classes when he could and worked at a number of jobs, most notably as a mural painter under the New Deal program the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and as a comic book illustrator. At Fawcett Publications, he illustrated backgrounds for the Captain Marvel comic strip. He spent his military service (1943-45) designing camouflage patterns for the U.S. Army Air Force. In 1947, he petitioned to legally change his name to Ezra Jack Keats, in reaction to the anti-Semitic prejudice of the time.

Keats spent most of 1949 painting and studying in Paris, realizing a long-deferred dream of working as an artist. After returning to New York, he focused on earning a living as a commercial artist, undoubtedly influenced by his father's anxieties. His illustrations began to appear in Reader's Digest, The New York Times Book Review, Collier's and Playboy, and on the jackets of popular books. His work was displayed in Fifth Avenue store windows, and the Associated American Artists Gallery, in New York City, gave him exhibitions in 1950 and 1954.

In his unpublished autobiography, Keats wrote, "I didn't even ask to get into children's books." In fact, he was asked to do so by Elizabeth Riley of Crowell, which brought out his first children's title, Jubilant for Sure, written by Elisabeth Hubbard Lansing, in 1954. To prepare for the assignment, Keats went to rural Kentucky, where the story takes place, to sketch. Many children's books followed, including the Danny Dunn adventure series, by Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin, and an ethnographic series by Tillie S. Pine and Joseph Levine, beginning with The Indians Knew. All told, Keats illustrated nearly 70 books written by other authors.

In 1983, Keats died at the age of 67 following a heart attack. His last projects included designing the sets for a musical version of his book The Trip (which would later become the stage production Captain Louie), designing

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jennie was so excited to get a hat and then it’s so plain that she is mad. She feeds the birds in the park. All the ladies have such amazing hats. Then birds alight on her hat with flowers and pictures and a birds nest and she loves her hat It’s wonderful. It’s the best hat in the story.

The artwork is pretty good. I love the paisley print Jennie is wearing and all the hats are so fancy. It’s not the best story, but I enjoyed it.

I didn’t read this to either child. It’s only my opinion today.

[Alyssa Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. Jennie's Hat by Ezra Jack Keats has not won any awards.
2. I would recommend this book for K-2.
3. In this book, Jennie is so excited to see the hat her favorite aunt has sent her, but when she sees the lackluster hat, she is very disappointed. So, around the house she looks for things that could make a fun and lovely hat. With the help of some birds, Jennie's dull hat becomes the most beautiful hat of all piled high with flowers, photos, leaves, and colored eggs.
4. I like this book because of Jennie's imagination. She found many things around the house and tried to turn them into the perfect hat. The drawings were also beautifully done.
5. One thing I would do with this book is have children design and create their own hat. They would be able to use any materials they wanted and could decorate it however they please. Another activity I would have the students do is compare this book to Fancy Nancy. I think there are similar themes between the two about wanting to be fancy.

[Rosa Cline · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this story a little girl awaits and wonders what her new hat will look like. She imagines all types of fancy ones but when it arrives it's just a plain little girl hat. She is disappointed and a little angry. She goes off and tries different things for a hat. and as she is thinking about her new hat she goes out and feeds the birds and animals outside; thinking of them. She goes to church with her parents and see all the fancy pretty hats everyone is wearing and when church is over and she goes out. Her friends the birds and animals remember her kindness they bring leaves, ribbons, various things they've found and bring and put it on her hat. Helping make her hat a special one. Kindness given is kindness brought back... a special thought that is wonderful to teach children!

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be perfect for a Hat story time and craft. Jennie really wants a fancy hat, but what arrives from her aunt is very plain. By the end of the book her hat has been festively decorated by the neighborhood birds in repayment for her kindness in feeding them. Ezra Jack Keats will always be one of my favorites - his work is classic for a reason!

[Zina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about a little girl named Jennie who waits on a hat to be sent to her from her aunt, in hopes that it is the most beautiful and dramatic hat she has ever seen. When the hat arrives it is nothing she imagined it to be, it is the opposite of what she hoped. It’s plain. Disappointed with her hat she tries on some other objects like baskets, lampshades, flowerpot, TV antenna, and a shiny pan just to see if they would look like the hat she imagined, but they didn’t work out. She takes a break to feed the birds and she wishes that her hat were just a little fancier. The next morning she wakes up and everywhere she looks she sees beautiful hats, outside her window and even at church. When she leaves the church the story take a Cinderella spin, and some birds come and fill her hate with loads of beautiful things and tops it off with a bird’s nest. She loves the hat so much and she cherishes it.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun story about hats. We've been reading the books in the series of books featuring Peter by Ezra Jack Keats. We really enjoyed those, so now we are expanding to other books he wrote. This was an interesting story with colorful illustrations and we had fun reading it together. We loved looking at the hats; this is a great book to read during Easter and Springtime in general.

[Robert Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ezra Jack Keats' illustrations here are, as usual, excellent. The story is simple and should delight young girls... and boys as well, why not? It certainly delighted me!

Jennie receives a hat as a gift, and is disappointed that it is not fancy, but plain. She sulks and grumbles, as children will do. but something amazing happens that brings Jennie her wish. You must read it to believe. Although Jennie is rewarded with her wish, I had hoped that she would have learned to appreciate the gift she was given, and not the one she had wanted.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A picture book classic about a young girl who wishes her plain hat was fancier. She tries not to be disappointed, but it's clear she longs for the kind of hat she sees women wear at church. Then Jennie's kindness is sweetly repaid. A great story to use with a hat making craft.

[Bant · Rating 3 out of 5]

It wasn't my favorite. Then it started to grow on me. The end is kind of magical.

[Stacie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slightly dated story from the time when people wore fancy hats and a small girl who wishes hers might be fancy too.

[Denise Lauron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story of Jennie's new hat, and about how she wishes it was more amazing. I can imagine reading it to a child who would be giggling the whole way through.

[Luisa Knight · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmm. Jennie is not grateful for a hat she is given. Then, it’s decorated by birds on her way home from church? I can’t tell if that’s Jennie’s imagination kicking in or not.

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[Sean Harding · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun story from Keats with beautiful illustrations and a good story, Keats is a master at his craft.

[Courtney Dyer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Breaking from his typical African American male protagonist, beloved author, Ezra Jack Keats, creates a playful story with a female protagonist who dreams of a fancy hat with colorful flowers and ribbons. Using collage and composite illustrations, Keats timelessly brings this fanciful story to life.

Jennie has been anxiously awaiting the arrival of a new hat from her favorite aunt. However, when it arrives, she is very disappointed in how plain the hat is. Wishing it were a little fancier, Jennie sets out to create the perfect hat. Just when she is about to give up, she receives a fancy surprise from unexpected friends.



Being a huge fan of Ezra Jack Keats and his ‘Peter’ books, I was a little disappointed after reading this one. It just didn’t hold my attention the same way that Peter and Willie do. Also, there was nothing relatable about it for me. If I were to recommend this book, I would recommend it for children ages 4-8, however, it may only appeal to girls. As a teacher, this book could be included in an author’s study on Ezra Jack Keats, but I personally probably wouldn’t include it. Maybe an art teacher could use this book as a segue into a collage lesson or hat-creating art project.

[Zoraya Brown]

I would use this book as an addition to a weekly to monthly Ezra Keats-themed lesson. We will have chosen a book by Keats at story time each day, then continue to, discussing previous books before starting a new one. The sole purpose of these readings would be to emphasize that Ezra Keats, "the author," had written each one. My goal would be to have children maintain their knowledge of what an author is, as I notice in classrooms that I currently teach that they often forget. Having them focus on the same one and his work may help to stop this from happening through consistency of exposure to one author.

[Zoraya Brown]

I will use this book to continue in our Ezra Keats-themed weekly to monthly lesson. We will read the story during a story time read-aloud, and discuss who Ezra Keats is, what happened in the story and critically think to discover how it is similar to his other work. This lesson is designed to promote memorization of what an author is by consistently emphasizing his name, his work, what an author is and the realization that the same author can write many books. We would think about Jennie's ideas and make our own creative hats after reading this story.

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read during a Pre-K Class Visit on 10/17/12: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...

Read during a Pre-K Class Visit on 10/18/12: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...

Read at elementary school story time celebrating Ezra Jack Keats on 9/18/13: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...

[Russell · Rating 2 out of 5]

A misstep by the other exceptional Ezra Jack Keats. This is no The Snowy Day, but instead a lesson of selfishness and snobbery being ultimately rewarded through the service of those less fortunate. After trashing her aunt's gift and continuing to whine about hats, birds encourage this behavior. They go so far as to uproot their young to enhance Jennie's headdress.

[Michele Stalmer]

What do you do when you are expecting something to be one way and find yourself disappointed when it is completely opposite of what you expected? You have to get creative to figure out a way to make it just the way you want. Teachers will love this book, because it gives children a spring board to creative problem solving. It will get children thinking about ways to do things differently and be satisfied with the end result.

[Cara Byrne · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Jenny receives a plain hat from her aunt, she tries on all sorts of more interesting alternatives (including a basket, a TV antenna, and a pot) to no avail. However, after befriending birds, Jennie receives flowers, old valentines and even a bird's nest with baby birds for her plain white hat, turning it into the most extravagant, beautiful hat of all. The story is fun, though Jenny herself lacks the warmth and the visual simplicity/beauty that Keats' other characters exhibit.

[Cheryl]

Can't rate. Illustrations are gorgeous. But child me, and adult me, are too literal to move from a normal real world into a world where songbirds would find pretty things to put on Jenny's hat while she's wearing it, much less build a nest on it. There's some metaphor or something there, I think, that we're missing.

[Brittany]

I think of problem-solving for my students when I read this book. It demonstrates how the main character is not content with a plain hat, however there is a solution to be creative with the hat and solves the problem.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Birds? Yep. It's because of the birds that I read this book. And it's the only book by Keats that we've read that features a girl. Beware: after reading this to a young girl, she just might start creating inventive hats.

[Relyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was fine, not great. But the art! Oh, the art! I'd like to use this book at Easter and challenge the students to an Easter Bonnet competition. Wouldn't that be fun?

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The "magical" element comes into play too abruptly for me. I re-read several times and couldn't make this story gel in my mind. While the illustrations are stellar, I found the text lacking.

[charlene.librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very sweet.

[Tabitha Vanover · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice book of a little girl with a big fashion statement for hats. She wanted to be like the ladies in her community. Yet she turned her unique happy into a one of a kind hat that everyone loved.

[Ben Truong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jennie's Hat is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats, which tells a story about a girl named Jeannie who receives a hat from her favorite aunt – just one problem: it's just too plain.

The text is rather simple and straightforward. It is a story about a girl named Jennie and she just received a hat from her favorite aunt. However, Jennie wanted a fancy hat like all the other women in the neighborhood, but she ended up having a plain hat. The illustrations are wonderful done and is reminiscent of magazine cut-outs or collage and depict the text exceptionally well.

The premise of the book is rather straightforward. Jennie wanted a fancy hat – one that she thought that her favorite aunt gifted to her. Unfortunately, it was just a plain hat, which was something that she didn't want. Jennie went as far as to try to wear other things like a lampshade, a flower pot, television antennas, a pot, and a basket for a more inventive hat. After church one day, a flock of birds, that Jennie fed weekly, descended on her hat and decorating it with a myriad of wild flowers and a nest of baby birds, giving Jennie the hat she always dreamed of.

All in all, Jennie's Hat is a wonderful children's book, a tad unrealistic and unbelievable, but a wonderful book nevertheless.

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not one of Keats' best. I felt that Jennie's Hat (1966) is very dated. As the Sondheim song "The Ladies Who Lunch" goes, "Does anyone still wear a hat? (I'll drink to that)." And it's true, while the illustrations are gorgeous as always, I felt this didn't have the heart that Keats' other works have. Now I realize people still wear hats, to church and Easter parades and whathaveyou, but this one didn't do it for me. I think it was missing Peter and the beauty of the inner city life that I've grown accustomed to that makes his work stand out. My rating - 2/5

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book came up in a discussion with a library coworker (re: her appreciation of a fruit hat she recently wore in a dance competition), and since the very book was on the shelf, I read it. It is very cute. I find the art interesting; it appears in places to include elements of collage, especially for Jennie's dress for most of the story, as well as the birds and the various elements of the decorated hats. I also appreciate that the story just kind of is; it contains an element of being grateful for something one initially didn't care for, but without being overly moralizing.