When Everybody Wore a Hat

I read When Everybody Wore a Hat written and illustrated by William Steig. This book received the New York Times Best Illustrated Books Award and the Parents Choice Silver Honor Award. This book was about the details William Steig remembered from 1916 when he was eight years old. There isn't any sort of order or storyline in this book; just a lot of memories or facts from Steig's childhood. I do like this book because it portrays a great picture of the early 1900s from a child's perspective and how different it was then compared to now. However, I really didn't like the illustrations in this book. I think the appropriate grade level for this book would second grade to sixth grade. I don't think I would use this book in my future classroom. A possible activity to be used along with this book is to give students a template to write their own autobiography. That would be one benefit of this book hardly having any structure. Students could use this book, and create their own story based on the memories and details in their lives and in this time period.