We Found a Hat by Jon Klassen

"We Found a Hat," the thoughtful conclusion to Jon Klassen's celebrated Hat Trilogy, presents a gentle meditation on friendship, fairness, and sacrifice. This picture book is divided into three parts, creating a more complex narrative structure than its predecessors while maintaining Klassen's signature minimalist style.

The story follows two turtles who discover a hat together. Both turtles agree the hat looks good on each of them, but there is only one hat and two turtles. Rather than depicting outright theft as in previous Hat books, this final installment explores the internal struggle between desire and friendship as the turtles navigate their dilemma.

Set against a desert landscape rendered in muted tans and grays with splashes of pink for the sunset, Klassen's illustrations masterfully convey emotion through the simplest of means—the tilt of a turtle's head or the direction of their gaze. The spare desert setting emphasizes the moral weight of the turtles' decisions.

As night falls, the story takes a touching turn that celebrates the power of friendship and empathy. The conclusion offers a satisfying resolution that distinguishes this book from the more ambiguous endings of the previous Hat books.

Klassen's understated humor remains, but "We Found a Hat" introduces a gentler tone while maintaining the sophisticated storytelling that appeals to both children and adults. The book's division into three parts creates natural pauses for discussion, making it an excellent choice for classroom reading or bedtime stories.

Completing the thematic arc of the trilogy, "We Found a Hat" stands as a testament to Klassen's ability to address complex emotional territory within the seemingly simple format of a picture book. This final Hat book received multiple starred reviews and further cemented Klassen's place as one of the most distinctive and celebrated picture book creators of his generation.