Blue Hat, Green Hat

by Sandra Boynton

Three earnest animals and one misguided turkey learn about colors, clothes, and getting dressed in this Sandra Boynton classic board book.

This whimsical first concept book, featuring a delightful read-aloud text that showcases animals, colors, and clothes, is sure to elicit giggles from little ones as they happily chime in on every spread with an OOPS .

BLUE HAT,
GREEN HAT,
RED HAT,
OOPS.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Humor, Animals, Storytime, Kids

16 pages, Board Book

First published October 11, 1984

About the author

Sandra Keith Boynton is an American humorist, songwriter, director, music producer, children's author, and illustrator. Boynton has written and illustrated over eighty-five books for children and seven general audience books, as well as over four thousand greeting cards, and seven music albums. She has also designed calendars, wallpaper, bedding, stationery, paper goods, clothing, jewelry, and plush toys for various companies.

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau]

The problems we all face when picking out what to wear! Young children will enjoy this funny look at trying to find just the right clothes. If you know of someone who is having to deal with a small child then this book might be very helpful in pointing out why it is important to help mom/dad when it is time to put clothes on!

[Charles Marchman]

Silly and thrilling. But doesn’t rhyme.
Does taste good according to my 7 month old.

[Terra]

Not my favorite Boynton book (and I am a HUGE fan) but I love how this book grows with your child. First you can just read the simple words. Then you can point out the colors. Then you can talk about what kind of animals are in the pictures. Then you can describe on what part of the body each animal is wearing the items of clothing.

The boy thinks the last page is hilarious, even though he's much too young to actually get the humor. I'm still not sure what he's laughing at.

[Karl]

Once my kid was old enough to get the joke, he literally fell off the bed laughing.

[Margot Watts]

Haven’t met a Sandra Boynton book that didn’t deserve all 5 stars. She is my Roman Empire.

[Anna]

Toddler delights in yelling "oops!" at the appropriate moments.

[Little Ducky]

I love it when my brother reads this book to me. I think it's pretty silly and like to say "oops" along with that goofy turkey. 👶

[Kathryn Beal]

This is my 10-month-old's favorite book! He laughs out loud at the jokes! Such a joy to read this with him. To any mamas and papas out there: Everything by Sandra Boynton is brilliant.

[Tim Lenes]

When it comes to comedic timing, few books do it better than Blue Hat, Green Hat. Sandra is a master story teller and it shows. Her pacing, setup, and delivery satisfy time, and time, and time, and time again.

[Elise Cohen]

"A wonderful little book for toddlers and also for the learning disabled. Not only is the dialogue very brief, but the portrayal of a turkey who cannot dress himself properly according to common sense or general social rules hits a chord with those who have trouble assessing social relationships. To toddlers, it's just funny and cute to see a turkey who can't figure out that his shoes go on his feet and that when jumping in the pool he shouldn't be fully dressed in street clothes."

[Valerie]

I actually think Karanina is the first person I read this book over and over to. It is a fantastic read aloud, short and goofy.

[Ellary]

It's cute; I'll give it that. But something in me cannot help but be offended by the sheer stupidity of the Turkey character. As an avid learner of dressing oneself, I was unamused.

[Stacy]

It was amazing because it was the first book that my son laughed (his head off) at and was interested in.

[Laura Giessler]

One of our favorites from years gone by. Giving it to friends for a baby shower, so I re-read it to my "kids" who just arrived home from college. #oldtimes!

[sweetchillisauce]

thanks lucy for reading this out loud to me on facetime to help with my #2020 reading challenge!

[Jon]

This was Rowan’s introduction to Sandra Boynton, and I’m honestly shocked it’s still in one piece considering how many times Rowan has read it, and the number of car journeys it’s been on. For a few months it was the default car book, and he would just chill in his seating flipping pages while we ran errands. Now it’s back to being a bedroom book, and he still giggles with every “OOPS!”

[Maeve’s Reading Adventures]

This is part of the 3rd book haul from the library that Maeve (4 months) and I got

This is a very simple book, good for babies as well as for kids who are beginning their reading journey and learning colours, animals, how to put clothes on themselves!

[Kristen Hylton]

This is a great book for bilingual storytime! I read it in Spanish and pointed to the articles of clothing as I read, and translated as I went. I asked the kids to help me translate to English too: "Azul el sombrero... what color is this hat? Blue! Azul is blue in Spanish." Or I'd ask, "Who is wearing the yellow pants? The elephant, yes! El elefante lleva los pantalones amarillos."

This book is great for teaching colors and articles of clothing. And it's funny, too! The turkey puts the clothes on all the wrong parts of its body, and it's fun to ask the kids where the turkey is wearing its clothes and where they really belong!

[Max]

I just read about green hat, red hat and Oops! I liked it because I just read about it. I just read with you, Dad.

[Rod Brown]

Four animals model their colorful clothes, but the poor turkey can never quite get it right. Oops. Hilarious from beginning to end.

[Danielle T]

Animals, colors, and oopses, oh my

[Katie]

Sandra is a nonstop hit maker.

[Charlie Stubbs]

one of the first Boynton books we read and still a favorite!

[Janet]

This is the first book my son ever “read” to me. Easy to learn, and repeat and very fun for the young ones.

We add some physical actions of fake falling when we read the word “oops” and my kids love acting it out.

[Ronan Crutchfield]

When my mom finished reading the book to me, I said “gee!” Then immediately put the book inside a grocery bag and carried it around the house. So do with that information what you will.

[Christopher Mitchell]

At its core, “Blue Hat, Green Hat” is a simple concept - Anthropomorphic animals seem to have gathered and are having a costume party. The Bear, Moose, and Elephant have made the rookie mistake of inviting Turkey to join the group.

While the core group of animals seem to be having a blast trying on various bits of colored clothing and bragging about their items, Turkey can’t seem to get his act together.

The antics of the dumb Turkey was met with peals of laughter, giggles, and smiles. The visible look of shock and embarrassment on Elephants face was particularly enjoyed.

The big payoff at the end when we think Turkey has finally straightened up was the best part for sure. Lots of studying this page and laughing at Turkey.

All in all, my wife found this book to be very amusing.

[CelIini Bellini]

In my bedring stories era. Jk. Putting my phone off everytime it pops up in my fyp. And I’m kind of cheating to get to my reading goal😔😔 But I’m not reaaaally cheating. I am reading. Just really really really short stories🤭🤭

«Oops».

[Samantha Stone]

We love Sandra Boynton!! Benny seemed to really like this one with the “oops”!

[Melissa Miller]

Meadow laughed every time I read "oops!"

[Kayla Noffze]

We’ve read this over and over. My 2.5yr old loves it and my fresh 5yr old can recite it to her little brother, which is fun!