Jon Klassen (born November 29, 1981) is a Canadian writer and illustrator of children's books, and an animator. He is known for the 2012 picture book This Is Not My Hat, which won both the Caldecott Medal and the Kate Greenaway Medal. This Is Not My Hat is a companion to Klassen's preceding picture book, I Want My Hat Back (2011), which was his first as both writer and illustrator. Both books were on the New York Times Best Seller list for more than 40 weeks; by April 2014 one or the other had been translated into 22 languages and they had jointly surpassed one million worldwide sales. Both books were recommended for children ages 5+ by the Greenaway judges. Klassen's Hat Trilogy was completed with the publication of We Found a Hat (2016).
He received the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2026.
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Early life and education
Klassen was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, in 1981 and grew up in Niagara Falls and Toronto, Ontario. He studied animation at Sheridan College, graduated in 2005, and moved to Los Angeles.
Career
In 2005, Klassen made an animated short with Daniel Rodrigues, An Eye for Annai. He subsequently worked as an animator for the feature films Kung Fu Panda (2008) and Coraline (2009) and served as art director for the 2009 animated music video of "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" by U2.
In 2010, Klassen achieved international recognition when he was awarded the Governor General's Award for English-language children's illustration for his work on the picture book Cats' Night Out, written by Carolyn Stutson.
The Hat trilogy
His first solo picture book was I Want My Hat Back, published by Candlewick Press in September 2011. It features a bear looking for his hat, who finally finds it and then off-page eats the rabbit who stole it. The New York Times Book Review named it one of the "10 Best Illustrated Children's Books for 2011". The book was published in September by Candlewick Press. Klassen said of the ending, which has been called a "subversive risk", that "there was no other way for it to end". It achieved considerable commercial success, and even became an internet meme when people started "posting their own versions of the story". Pamela Paul praised the book in review for The New York Times: "it is a wonderful and astonishing thing, the kind of book that makes child laugh and adult chuckle, and both smile in appreciation ... [it is] a charmingly wicked little book and the debut of a promising writer-illustrator talent." According to the Chicago Tribune, "the joy of this book lies in figuring out the explicit plot from the implicit details in the pictures." There has been some discussion of the ending, however: is it appropriate in a children's book that one character kills another without repercussion? A bookseller, who "need[ed] to go on record as saying I LOVE this book", reported that some customers love it until they turn the last pages. It was a runner-up for the American Geisel Award (books for beginning readers) and made the Greenaway shortlist.
Klassen modified the story in a companion book one year later, This Is Not My Hat (Candlewick, 2012). It features a little fish who steals and wears the hat of a big fish, whom the little one evades until the last pages. Finally the big fish swims back into the book, wearing the hat, with no sign of the thief. This installment won the 2013 Caldecott and 2014 Greenaway Medals, from the American and British professional librarians respectively. He is the first person to win both awards for the same work. Only Gail E. Haley had received both medals previously, but for different books.
According to the award committee, "With minute changes in eyes and the slightest displacement of seagrass, Klassen's masterful illustrations tell the story the narrator doesn't know." The Greenaway recognizes "distinguished illustration in a book for children", not necessarily a picture book. According to the British judges, "The format and layout work perfectly to convey the underwater location with the movement of the action flowing with the water from left to right. ... The juxtaposition of text and image works with perfect comic timing. Amazing expression is conveyed by the eyes and dramatic tension by little bubbles." The Greenaway is paired in a London announcement and presentation ceremony with the Carnegie Medal for children's literature, which recognized a controversially grim young-adult novel in 2014. According to the press release, "both winners independently argued that children benefit from stories without happy endings." Klassen said in his acceptance speech, "Making a book, you're kind of going out on a limb in the belief that what you think of as a satisfying story is the same as what other people think of as a satisfying story. This doesn't mean everything in the story turns out alright for everybody, but you, as a storyteller, try and make sure it ends the way the story should end."
Collaboration with Mac Barnett
Klassen began collaborating with Mac Barnett in 2012, publishing Extra Yarn. It received a Caldecott Honor in 2013. It was only the second time an author received both a medal and an honor book in the same year. They have published two series together: The Shape Trilogy (2017–2019) and Now I see (2026), alongside stand-alone picture books. In 2024 they launched Looking at picture books a newsletter discussing how picture books work. In 2026 they undertook a tour of lectures about picture books as an art form.
Personal life
As of 2019, Klassen lives in California. He has two children.
Publications
As author and illustrator
The Hat Trilogy
I Want My Hat Back (Candlewick, Sep. 2011). ISBN 9780763655983
This Is Not My Hat (Candlewick, Oct. 2012). ISBN 9780763655990
We Found a Hat (Candlewick, Oct. 2016). ISBN 9780763656003
The Rock from the Sky (Candlewick, Apr. 2021). ISBN 9781536215625
The Skull: A Tyrolean Folktale (Candlewick, July. 2023). ISBN 9781536223361
Your Places
Your Farm (Walker Books, Apr. 2025). ISBN 9781529526868
Your Forest (Walker Books, Apr. 2025). ISBN 9781529526844
Your Island (Walker Books, Apr. 2025). ISBN 9781529526851
As illustrator
With Mac Barnett
Extra Yarn (Balzer + Bray, a HarperCollins imprint, Jan. 2012). ISBN 9780061953385
Sam and Dave Dig a Hole (Candlewick, Oct 2014), ISBN 9780763662295
The Shape Trilogy
Triangle (Candlewick, Mar. 2017). ISBN 9780763696030
Square (Candlewick, May 2018). ISBN 9780763696078
Awards (selection)
2012 Honor, Irma Black Award
2013 Honor, Irma Black Award
2013 Winner, Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis for Best Picture Book
2013 Caldecott Medal: Honor for Extra Yarn with Mac Barnett, and Winner for This Is Not My Hat. Only Leonard Weisgard previously illustrated two books honored in one year, in 1947.
2014 Greenaway Medal winner for This Is Not My Hat, Greenaway Medal shortlist for The Dark, written by Lemony Snicket.
2015 Winner, Irma Black Award
2015 Honor, Caldecott Medal
2026 Winner, Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award
