The Tiny Hat

by Ingrid Chabbert, Marjorie Béal (illustrator)

A bear wears a tiny hat which is much too small for him. In fact, it’s so small that it may fall off at any moment. The kindhearted bear leaves his tiny hat in a park, hoping that it will find a head that better fits it. As time passes, the bear tries on plenty of other headwear, but finds himself missing his tiny hat. He is inconsolable until one sunny morning, looking through the window, he discovers a wonderful surprise.

24 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Ingrid Chabbert est née en 1978 en Aveyron et vit aujourd'hui à Carcassonne.
Elle écrit depuis sa plus tendre enfance, partout et sur n'importe quoi.
Elle n'a pas fait d'études de lettres mais jouer avec les mots, parler de la vie aux enfants, c'est sa passion.
Son tout premier album jeunesse est paru en 2010.
Depuis, c'est prés d'une trentaine de titres qui ont vu le jour.

Reviews

[Lou · Rating 5 out of 5]

le livre qui a lancé mon obsession pour les albums où il est question d'un chapeau....... a masterpiece rendez-vous bien compte que le chapeau. est. petit.

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bear loves his tiny hat, but worries that it just isn't right for him. It only fits over his ear and it threatens to blow away easily. So he leaves the hat in the park hoping it will find a wearer who better fits. He gets a new hat, but still often thinks about his old tiny hat and wonders what became of it. One day he discovers the fate of his old tiny hat and finds the perfect hat for him too.

The illustrations for this are really vibrant. They are mostly bright red and black, with just splashes of other colors for the hats. It's almost too much red. The story itself is cute, and those who have to give away a beloved article of clothing they've outgrown will be able to identify with the bear. I read the publisher's description and it sounds like this lost something in translation, like in the original French the hat itself had wishes to belong to someone it better fit. Now I'm curious to see if I can find the French version and puzzle out what it originally said.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lesson: Sacrifice- Give up what you love if it is better for someone else

[Roxanne]

I wonder if anything is lost in translation. The story isn't as interesting but we're attracted to the bold red/black colour of this book.