Children's Books About Hats with a FREE Printable

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If you are looking for a themed-unit or mini-unit to work on with your preschooler or kindergartner “just for fun” then you’ll definitely want to consider doing a HAT theme. The kids and I had such a good time reading these hat books and I think my girls found a couple of new favorite books!

These books can also be read to supplement lowercase letter “h” (h is for hat) in the All About Reading Pre-Reading Program. I have loved using All About Reading with my twin girls so they could learn all their letters and sounds. I highly recommend the program as we made lots of great memories together and had so much fun. You can read more about our experience here.

If your child is interested in creating a design for a paper craft hat, be sure you print out the free printable at the end of the post.

Books About Hats

Hat by Paul Hoppe

A boy finds a hat on a park bench and thinks of all the adventures he could have with the hat but when his mom asks “what if someone else needs this hat?” he realizes that those same adventures could be a disaster for those people. Henry ends up leaving the hat right where he found it.

Milo’s Hat Trick by Jon Agee

Milo is looking for a rabbit for his magic trick but instead finds a bear who can jump in and out of hats. They are temporarily separated but are reunited right before Milo needs to prove himself a worthy magician. The bear saves the day but becomes tired out from all the shows and Milo takes him him. He then realizes that he can do the same thing as the bear and becomes the star of his own show.

Jennie’s Hat by Ezra Jack Keats

Jennie learns that her aunt will be sending her a new hat as a gift but when the hat arrives Jennie is very disappointed by how plain it is. She wishes for a fancier hat and when she wears it to church one day it gets unexpectedly decorated.

Old Hat New Hat by Stan and Jan Berenstain

Our girls loved this book and we read it at least a dozen times. They read it themselves a few times too. It’s an easy read with the Berenstain Bear desiring a new hat until he realizes that all the new hats aren’t really what he wants and his old hat is really the best hat of all.

Miss Fannie’s Hat by Jan Karon

The girls and I loved this book and I have to say it was our favorite of all the hat stories! It is a sweet story with a positive message. Miss Fannie is a 99-year-old lady who always wears a fancy hat from her large collection when she goes out. The pink straw hat with the roses is her favorite of all and she wears it every Easter. When her pastor asks her to donate a hat in order to raise money for the church she decides on her favorite hat. Everyone wins in the heartwarming ending.

The Sunhat by Jennifer Ward

Little Rosa loses her hat to the wind on her way to school and it blows into the desert. The hat provides shelter for a group of animals as a monsoon sweeps through the area. As the storm clear out, the hat is swept back by the wind to the path that Rosa takes home after school.

Red Hat by Lita Judge

Words aren’t necessary for this book because the beautiful illustrations and sounds made by the animals tell the story of a bear who takes a red hat off an outside laundry and plays with it. The bear and his animal friends run around and have lots of fun with the hat until it completely unravels.

The Hat by Jan Brett

Jan Brett’s distinct illustrations help tell the story of a curious hedgehog who finds a stocking and gets it stuck on top of his head. All the animals think it’s funny that he has a stocking on his head but he gives them all the reasons why it will benefit him to have the hat on. He finally gets released from the stocking and in the meantime all the other animals find hats of their own.

Hooray for Hat! by Brian Won

Elephant starts his day out feeling very grumpy until a surprise hat shows up at his door. As he put the hat on his mood changes. He provides hats to his friends and turns their grumpy day into a happy day also. Lastly, they help giraffe, who is sick, feel better by each sharing their hat with him to create one tall silly hat.

Magritte’s Marvelous Hat by D.B. Johnson

Our kids really enjoyed this unique book which has overlays on several of the pages to alter the picture as you flip it. The book is based on René Magritte, a Belgian surrealist painter,

The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss

A classic Dr. Seuss book that most kids love! There are so many great craft ideas for the Cat in the Hat. I’ve compiled Dr. Seuss activity ideas on Pinterest so feel free to follow my board.

Do You Have a Hat? by Eileen Spinelli

This story incorporates interesting hats that historical figures wore, from Abraham Lincoln to Walt Whitman, asking each time “do you have a hat?” And each time the story asked the question, our children would respond “not like that!”

Design a Hat

Your child can make their own hat creation using the pictures in the printable or other materials you have on hand. Click below for your free printable.