This Is Not My Hat
I’ve read comments about this story being clever and funny and just how great it is. It was a New York Times best seller, and it won the Caldecott Medal as well. So, without knowing the actual story, we got it from the library. However, let’s be real, I’d never read this to a little one. The only moral I can find in the story is that it’s ok to steal, but don’t get caught. Or pick your target carefully, don’t steal from someone bigger than you. Or have a plan to get away and run really fast if you steal something. Either way, whatever the specific moral of the story, I’d never want a little one to learn anything from this story.
I guess it could be spun as a story that is trying to say not to steal, as we all know - you shouldn’t steal - but it is a stretch to say that is what comes across when reading this story. It could also be spun as an ironic story, but in that case, it is a story for adults, not little ones.
Cautions: The entire story is about theft. And worse than that, unapologetic theft.
