Books to Enjoy for Hat Day at School

Are you a hat person? Hats can say a lot about person from causes or teams they support to hats worn for religious significance. And, sometimes hats are worn for fun such as on crazy hat days at school. Let’s read books to enjoy for hat day at school or any day of the year.

Hat Day Books for Toddlers

Full Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

My son’s favorite book of his early years was Blue Hat, Green Hat. I love the humor in the story. This one also helps with recognizing colors.

Hats of Faith by Medeia Cohan is a simple board book that identifies different headdresses worn for religious reasons.

Cats in Construction Hats Sudipta Bardhan-Qualle is filled with colorful cats in colorful hats using construction equipment to build a house. Also check out Cats in Conductor Hats. (releasing June 2026)

Hat Day Picture Books

We all think we know what a hat is. But, this book challenges you to think outside the box.⁣
⁣Hats are really everywhere you look.⁣
-Bubbles make great bath time hats.⁣
-Some jobs require certain hats.⁣
-Clouds can airplane hats.⁣
⁣A fun and playful read-aloud that will engage kids and have them looking for all those less obvious hats.⁣ Enjoy Very Good Hats by Emma Straub.

Mac Wears a Hat by Vicki Johnson is the story of how empowering a child feels when hats are worn. There are even directions for making your own paper hat in the back of the book. (releasing April 2026)

Twelve Hats for Lena by Karen Katz walks us through the months of the year as Lena makes a new hat for each month. We also learn about the symbols associated with each month. I think the kids would like to make their own sets of hats after being inspired by this book.

Tiara’s mom is a very talented hat maker. But, a new hat store is on the block and Momma’s studio business dries up. Tiara launches a plan to showcase Momma’s hats again in Tiara’s Hat Parade by Kelly Starling Lyons.

We all want our kids to love themselves. Old Hat by Emily Gravett is a sweet story of a dog in search of the perfect hat. But when he acquires the newest and best hat, his friends make fun and say it’s an old and out of style. He just can’t keep up with the newest trends. Disgusted, Harbet decides to ditch the hats and just be himself and soon everyone wants to be just like him.

I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen is an award winning book about a bear in search of its missing hat. Watch the illustrations closely as the bear searches and asks over and over for his hat back.

Hooray for Hat! by Brian Won takes us on a journey of cheering up friends with a parade of hats. This is a fun one to celebrate hat day at school.

The Hat by Jan Brett is a companion book to the class, The Mitten. A stocking becomes a hat on a hedgehog causing quite the scene amongst the animals.