When Everybody Wore a Hat

by William Steig

This is the story of
when I was a boy,
almost 100 years ago,
when fire engines were
pulled by horses,
boys did not play with girls,
kids went to libraries for books,
there was no TV,
you could see a movie for a nickel,
and everybody wore a hat.

Genres: Picture Books, History, Childrens, Biography, Memoir, Nonfiction, Autobiography

40 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

William Steig was born in New York City in 1907. In a family where every member was involved in the arts, it was not surprising that Steig became an artist.

He published his first children's book, Roland the Minstrel Pig, in 1968, embarking on a new and very different career.

Steig's books reflect his conviction that children want the security of a devoted family and friends. When Sylvester, Farmer Palmer, Abel, Pearl, Gorky, Solomon, and Irene eventually get home, their families are all waiting, and beginning with Amos & Boris, friendship is celebrated in story after story.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/willia...

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a biography of William Steig when he was a child. In those days everyone wore a hat and life was very different than today. He was 8 years old in 1918. I had no idea he was that old. That means he was in his 50s when he won the Caldecott for the pebble story. Wow. People listened to the radio or records back then for entertainment. Woman always wore fancy clothes.

It’s a straight forward telling of memories in his childhood. He wanted to be a writer or a seaman and he ended up a writer. The artwork looks like William.

The nephew was somewhat interested in this story. He found the difference in life somewhat interesting. It wasn’t his favorite book. He gave this 2 stars.

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wiilliam Steig was eight years old in 1916. A war raged in Europe. A nickel was a lot of money back then. The doctor made house calls. And, indeed, EVERYBODY wore a hat . . . even monkeys.

This is just a cute little selection of reminiscences, accompanied by Steig's drawings.


You know, Steig was kind of hot in his younger days.

[Ilana Waters · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't realize at first that this was actually the author describing his boyhood. As someone obsessed with the historical (especially turn-of-the-century immigrant experiences), I fell in love with the book. I think it's a great way to show kids how things were done in the past. As for the reviews who describe it as "disjointed," well, not every book has a beginning-middle-end. This was more like one-page vignettes. Think of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. Irish-immigrant story for much older readers, but same concept. No overall narrative thread, just a fascinating glimpse into yesteryear.

[Mimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Random recollections from the author's childhood in Steig's distinctive, funny style.

[Kelli · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story was too scattered and not fluid. It did provide a glimpse into a forgotten part of history.

[Faloni © · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ready to make reading history? Let’s go! 💘

[Amanda Watson · Rating 3 out of 5]

"When Everybody Wore a Hat" is a biography for children 4-8 years old, it won the New York Times Best Illustrated Book award and the Parents Choice Silver Honor award. William Steig tells his story of his personal experiences and what life was like in 1916, when he was eight years old. This is a fun and detailed book of Steig's childhood memories that was written almost 100 years after the book too place. I liked that Steig wrote and illustrated the book. I think the book is more effective and intriguing because Steig wrote and illustrated the book. I liked the illustrations. I think they are very fun and the cartoonish look of the characters and other drawings made it more entertaining to look at. I think having the illustrations on white space made them stand out more and attracted my eye immediately when reading each page. The book uses simple words that are easy to understand. I also think the book is very imformative on what life was like back then. The authors personal experiences make the book more relatable and fun to read. The book has a different memory on each page which is one of the reasons I only gave the book five stars. I liked that the book gives a lot of memories which makes it exciting but the memories were very random and jumped from one to the next. For example on one page it says "Pop was an expert rower." and on the next page it says "The prettiest girl on the block was Marian Mack. Back then boys never played with girls." I think these random experiences will be confusing to for children to try to follow the story and understand when reading on their own. My final reason for giving the book three stars is ebcause the book is called "When Everybody Wore a Hat" but the author doesn't mention hats that much. I wanted to learn more about the hats and though the title is intriguing, I don't this it may be the most appropriate title for the book. Overall, I think this is a entertaining children's biograpgy that can inform children in a fun way on what life was like in the past. I think this book would be appealing to young readers because of the fun pictures and the story itself. The story is told in a fun and combined with the pictures, I think children would be engaged in the story. When working with children I would use this book to discuss what life was like in 1916 and compare it to how life is today. It could also be used to discuss different types of biographies.

[Josiah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rather than presented as a straightforward story, this book—a collection of William Steig's childhood memories that was first published when he was nearly one hundred years old—allows the impressions of the author's youth to come as sort of a kaleidoscope of remembrances; the other kids around him, his family and their idiosyncrasies, and the places near where he grew up that made a lasting impact on him. The book is much more visceral than direct, allowing the stream of thoughts and memories to give something of an outline of what it might have been like to grow up as little William Steig in the second decade of the 1900s, "When everybody wore a hat."

This is an interesting story; it's very different from most books like it. I would give one and a half stars to When Everybody Wore a Hat.

[Luisa Knight · Rating 1 out of 5]

This had more of the makings of a random memoir of a man's life at the turn of the 19th century than it did a story to interest children. It felt scattered and didn't have much to do with wearing hats (and I thought it ironic that many of the people in the illustrations weren't actually wearing a hat).

Ages: 5 - 9

Cleanliness: Parents argue. Mentions women wore corsets during this time and the illustration of this is a little odd - definitely pronouncing her chest area.

**Like my reviews? I also have hundreds of detailed reports that I offer too. These reports give a complete break-down of everything in the book, so you'll know just how clean it is or isn't. I also have Clean Guides (downloadable PDFs) which enable you to clean up your book before reading it! Visit my website: The Book Radar.

[Jazmin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story was fun to read and I really like the illustrations. The story is about the author's childhood in New York. He begins the story by saying "This is the story of when I was a boy, almost 100 years ago, when fire engines were pulled by horses, boys did not play with girls, kids went to libraries for books, there was no TV, you could see a movie for a nickel, and everybody wore a hat." Throughout the story we learn how the world once was. I could use this book to to teach what life was back then. After having my students read this nonfiction book, I can have them compare life back then, and life today. I think they will have fun comparing and be surprised with many stuff.

[Ellen L. Ramsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

An autobiography of William Steig growing up in a world where everybody wore a hat (even the monkeys) and where you had to stand very still to have your picture taken on a wooden horse (which was very hard for the horse. It's a fascinating remembrance of growing up at a different time--parents quarreling in multiple languages, listening to records on a wind up phonograph, spending a nickel going to the movies, being afraid of the janitor's dog, marveling at the number of cats a neighbor had, and of course marveling at all those hats.

[Kris Dersch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to like this more than I do.
I feel like it struggles to find an audience. I'm not saying kids can't appreciate someone telling about their childhood from so long ago, but I feel like adults see this and understand it but kids need more of a story. Which this isn't, just a series of memories. It has that aw shucks you'll never understand nostalgia that annoys me when we talk about the past to kids, but I wouldn't say it's aimed at adults either. The facts are interesting, the illustrations are of course wonderful but the whole is less than its parts here.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun book. It was biographical in a very early elementary fashion. This reminded me of the journal entries that I used to read from second graders when I student-taught. I see this as a highly useable mentor text for that age range. Steig offers a very light easily-followed example of elaboration and writes in a very personal manner that children could easily build their own writing from.

[Relyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have been teaching a unit in readers' workshop on biography. I was pretty pleased to find this one since autobiographies are tough to find for children. I thought my kids would be thrilled to read an autobiography from the author of Shrek. As always, I read it first to be sure it was appropriate. Bummer! This book is disjointed, confusing, and completely lacking in a narrative thread. Yeesh!

[Jay Bushara · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fond, accessible remembrances of a very grown-up writer. Witty and wistful and wise, this reads like a key to this great artist's career. Steig has always had feet planted in two worlds: amazingly still young enough to remember the wonder and blessed gullibility of growing up, yet all the while equipped with the perspective of the most experienced journalist to be able to pick out the good parts.

[Patsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is such a good idea. William Steig wrote down and illustrated many details of what life was like when he was a boy. Since he was born in 1908, there were many differences. Writing down memories and illustrating them the best you can, might be a good thing for any grandparent to do for their children and grandchildren.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bleh. I prefer William Steig's earlier illustrations. I'm actually using this book to show how personal narratives often work best when they focus on just one topic -- Steig jumps around from story to story with (what I think is intended to be) comic effect.

[Stan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy Steig's stories and art. Very near the end of his life he created this musing about the very first part of his life. His illustrations have never seemed more fitting. He chose to share the simple and basic things of childhood.

[Kaylee Bostick]

This was about the author moving to America during WWI. It talks about the different things that were expected of people during that time, and the different things that people wore. I might use this when having students write narratives.

[Emilia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is honest and adorable. It is written in the voice of a small child, so it sounds a little disjointed but that's pretty much how kids talk. And the illustrations are amazing!

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure who the audience for this might be. I enjoyed the history lesson, but I did not like the bloody war drawings.

[Abby Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great low level biography that would hold their interest

[Haley Hoenke · Rating 5 out of 5]

History, Social Studies

[Stacie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely memoir about life in America in early 1900s by a boy who wanted to grow up to be an artist and did! Expressive pictures.

[Danell Burney · Rating 4 out of 5]

great brief history of Author's life.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Such a personal look at Steig, its engaging how he tells all about his neighborhood and the people in it. Classic Steig illustations.

[Alli Kingsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This biography reflects back on the life of a young child during World War I. Steig writes from a child’s point-of-view. He uses a simplistic style- a combination of short sentences and sporadic thoughts. There was not a true plot to the story, simply retellings from childhood of which children today could relate. I think this book could be a good art response, where each student could draw a hat they believe they would wear during that time, because back then- Everybody Wore a Hat.

[Meredith Ahearn · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the single most charming children’s books I have ever read. It could have been written by my grandfather and it made me feel connected to him and his long ago childhood in NYC in the early 1900s. It’s a simply delightful peek at ordinary life for people at that time and place in America. Thoroughly and totally recommend this book. Extremely nostalgic and evocative of a long ago time that wasn’t so long ago. Just marvellous.

[Shane Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading When Everybody Wore a Hat as well as the illustrations. This book is a great start to introduce young children to non-fiction/historical books. It gave a glimpse of what life was like, or at least to William Steig, during the 19th century (World War 1).

Reading Levels:
LEXILE - 240L
ATOS - 2.7

Traits:
Presentation and Voice

[Kip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a story so much as a visit with William Steig, full of interesting observations about his childhood in the late 1910s. Not sure this would bring down the house at storytime, but has the sort of details that stick in the brain forever -- everyone wearing hats, even the monkeys; fearing the janitor's dog.