Jon Klassen is an illustrator, designer, and concept artist hailing from Ontario, Canada. He attended Sheridan College, and is currently based in Los Angeles. Klassen has worked on a number of high profile film and animation projects, including the U2 music video “I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight,” Henry Selick’s Coraline, and a TV spot for BBC’s coverage of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. His recent work on the children’s book Cats’ Night Out won the Canada Council for the Arts Governor General’s Awards for English Language Children’s Illustration.

The bear’s hat is gone, and he wants it back. Patiently and politely, he asks the animals he comes across, one by one, whether they have seen it. Each animal says no, some more elaborately than others. But just as the bear begins to despond, a deer comes by and asks a simple question that sparks the bear’s memory and renews his search with a vengeance. Told completely in dialogue, this delicious take on the classic repetitive tale plays out in sly illustrations laced with visual humor-- and winks at the reader with a wry irreverence that will have kids of all ages thrilled to be in on the joke. A picture-book delight by a rising talent tells a cumulative tale with a mischievous twist.