Whose Hat Is This? A Look at Hats Workers Wear Hard, Tall, and Shiny

by Sharon Katz Cooper

Whose Hat Is This? A Look at Hats Workers Wear Hard, Tall, and Shiny by Katz Cooper, Sharon. Published by Picture Window Books,2006, Paperback

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, Storytime, Childrens, Juvenile

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Karen Rosas · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a preschool teacher I have used this book to introduce uniforms form different community helpers and explain the importance for this public figures. However the book struggles in some of the illustrations and some "hat" are hard to imagine. The close up is so close you can only see two or three colors and not the shape of the hat/helmet. The students appeared surprised at the beekeepers. To implement the book I added prompts with real child side hat/helmets. The book pages are hard to read for a "picture walk" because they do not lead with the guess but more detail is added. There is no smooth transition from left to right.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, informative, inclusive! Definitely recommend this one for units on careers or community helpers!

[Taylor Ferguson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was about identifying different occupations. On one page, it would show just a hat, and on the next page, it showed who that hat belonged to. It also listed what each occupation consisted of.

I enjoyed seeing the different occupations listed in the book. I think this book would be great in a young classroom. It would introduce students to different professions that they might be interested in. A teacher could also ask the students what they wanted to be when they grow up, and have a unit on that.

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this books set-up. It asked a question first, giving the teacher a chance to ask the audience of students to guess and interact with the book, then it reveals the information. It also opens up discussions about children's interests and what they want to do when they grow up.

[Alisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is part guessing game/part informational title. Would be great as a storytime. For toddlers or PreK you could focus on the guessing game and give some of the informational text. For kindergarten-2nd you could read more of the book and play the game at the end as well.

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started teaching (although teaching is really a strong word for it) a two-year-old class at a private preschool this year and one thing I have struggled with is finding books that hit the sweet spot for reading to a group of two- and three-year-olds. Reading to a group of kids this young is very different from reading to a single child (like my daughter). This book is one of the first I've found this year that really kept them (mostly) engaged, and it was perfect for our community helpers unit.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

A guessing book of different types of hats and who wears them and why. This book has interesting facts about each hat described, and a brief history of hats, a glossary, and additional books to read to learn more about hats.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a simple, straightforward look at several different hats, who wears them, and why. A great intro to the concept of hats for the younger crowd, with bright, colorful illustrations, this is a good nonfiction book for story time!

[Miss Pippi the Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple clue nonfiction book with a question and answer. Workers include firefighter, beekeeper, chef, police officer, football player, astromaut, construction worker, and child (in a warm winter hat).

2024 storytime theme: Hard Hats

Reviewed from a library copy.

[Jennifer Heine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for discussion with little ones through 2nd or 3rd grade.

[Stephen Snyder · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really engaged my students while they delighted in guessing which hats they were looking at.

Bravo Sharon Katz Cooper!

[Bradley]

Read as part of my classroom lessons. I'm trying to get my book count up too!

[TJE · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book for older kids (elementary). T wasn't very interested but we tried guessing and rephrasing.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read that explores the different types of hats people wear and why. This would work well for a story time about jobs or clothes.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this would be an easy interactive picture book for storytimes with younger kids who are just learning to engage with books, but the pictures are a bit abstract and unclear.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whose Hat Is This? was a really adorable look at community workers and the hats that they wear. The book is interactive too! Each job has a page with the hat in bright colors, and then the page following has the worker and the name of the job that they do. The kids had a blast trying to guess the hats before the page was turned. I have older children, and they still considered it completely worth the challenge!

I was especially enamored with the fact that there are both men and women in each job. The girls were very happy about the police woman because apparently some of them know women in the police department! It was definitely a nice touch. After reading through this book, I also understand why it is rated from ages 4-8. Although the pages themselves have very simple wording, underneath each job is a longer and more in-depth description of that job.

I would recommend this book to any teacher for use with their Kindergarten, First or even Second Grade classes! I'll also say that this is an exceptional book for the boys, they were entertained the entire way through.

[jenee tuggle]

d) Text-to Teaching Connection: What is a response activity that you can do in a classroom with children in response to the book? (e.g. drama, music, art, or writing)

I really enjoyed reading this book to my after school Pre -k class. The lesson for that week was community helpers ,so i read this book during circle time to introduce the topic.I wanted to see if the students already knew which hat belongs to the correct community helper. I played a matching game with the students after i read the book. The students had to match the right community helpers hat to the community helper that wears it. The students really enjoyed the book and especially the game.I also brought in real community helpers hats so the students can see what they look like in real life.

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: Simple non-fiction book that encourages the reader to look at part of a hat guess who it belongs to. astronaut, beekeeper, chef, construction worker, firefighter, football player, police officer

First full page: "Whose hat is this, so bright and shiny?"
Next full page: "This is a firefighter's helmet. She runs into burning buildings to put out fires. Her helmet keeps her head safe from falling objects and extreme heat." (Fun fact is also included)

In series: Whose Is It?

Nice simple non-fiction book that encourages participation to use with PreK story time. Would make a great story time about hats when used with Caps for Sale!

Story Time Themes: Hats, community workers

[Ina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love 'guessing game" books for story time - they encourage audience involvement and engagement, which encourages fun and enjoyment. This one shows a portion of a hat/helmet and a one sentence question/hint and then, when the reader turns the page, there is the answer and information about the specific hat/helmet. Some of the hats are quite esoteric - like a beekeeper's hat. My young audience correctly guessed more than half, and really enjoyed the process. The illustrations are bright and bold, and alternate well between men and women wearers.

[Drew Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many kinds of people wear hats. Can you guess who's underneath each one?

I like the idea of this book, but the execution feels like Illustrator 101 (not to mention Gender "Equality" 101). The Boy (2.75) likes it and it does have some fun elements to it, including a good bit of informative though sometimes repetitive text, but overall I thought it was okay. This was another potty training standby.

[Hannah Cobb · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interactive survey of workers in the community. Kids can guess which hat belongs to which job, and learn a little about their neighborhood while they do it!

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this book to a group of Kindergartners who- although they liked it- pretty much guessed every hat on the first try. I like that this book asks questions and encourages inquiry.

[Lisa Echols · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun to play the game with kids - who uses these various hats?

[Vicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great book to use for a hat storytime or community workers theme. For the younger set you can just read the first line on each page.

Large and colorful illustrations.

[Jonathan Smith]

Kids using their minds to guess who uses this hat in the community. Great book for teaching young children about the people in the community