School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-A frantic frolic through London in an attempt to recover the queen's blue-and-red hat introduces readers to some of the famous sights in the English capital. When a gust of wind blows the hat off her head, the queen, her corgi, and her uniformed Buckingham Palace guards take off in hot pursuit. They climb over one of the lions at Trafalgar Square, run through the London Zoo, travel by Underground (while the queen drives) and scale the London Eye, Tower Bridge, and Big Ben, but to no avail. The wind is relentless and keeps the hat just out of reach until it finally comes to rest on the head of the youngest heir to the throne. The queen places it back on her head and calmly walks away with the baby in a perambulator. The blue, red, and black cartoon illustrations on white pages are the highlight here, with humorous details aplenty. VERDICT A slight story, stylish art, and a page of brief facts about the city create a breezy but ephemeral offering that might not warrant repeated readings.-Maryann H. Owen, Children's Literature Specialist, Mt. Pleasant, WI © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Antony (Please, Mr. Panda) returns with a diversion as tasty as tea and scones. The Queen of England sets off from the palace on her way "to visit someone very special" (the new royal infant, readers are meant to understand). She strides along in her trademark sensible shoes and coat, a prim corgi by her side, when the wind blows "the Queen's favorite hat right off her head." The Coldstream Guards, in their red jackets and huge fur hats, rush to her rescue, chasing pell-mell after the hat, but the wind carries it still higher. In a series of gloriously deadpan spreads, ever-growing numbers of guards (and the Queen) clamber across one of the Trafalgar lions, pack like clowns into the London Underground, tramp across the London Bridge, swarm up Big Ben, and rise right up into the air before everyone lands as safely as Mary Poppins, under their own umbrellas. The book's charm comes from the Keystone Kops-like effect of seeing so many dignified, uniformed figures descend into distinctly undignified chaos. It's a trim, stylish story tailor-made for Anglophiles. Ages 3-5. (Aug.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
