Hats!

August 1, 2001
K-Gr 1-In Clown Around, a group of stiffly rendered, goofy-looking clowns with unusually large mouths perform a circus act. The text, composed of short simple sentences, is well suited for beginning readers, but the colored-pencil and watercolor art is too busy to provide adequate reinforcement of the text. Hats! features a young boy who tries on many different hats as he decides which one to wear: "I need to wear a hat./Which one?/All my hats are so much fun." There is not much of a story line, but the simple text is accompanied by uncomplicated cartoon illustrations that provide helpful picture clues for young readers. Both titles include a word list and a "Parent's Page" with related activities and suggestions. Serviceable titles for collections in need of easy-readers.-Melinda Piehler, North Tonawanda Public Library, NY

Copyright 2001 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.