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The Queen's Hat

13 Reviews

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A witty and stylish celebration of London, the Queen and the royal family's new baby. And with a celebratory sparkly red foiled cover. A sudden gust of wind sets off a marvellous London adventure for the Queen, the Queen's men and one very special hat. So let's follow one determined, daredevil queen through the zoo, over Tower Bridge and up Big Ben... just where will that hat land? Winner of the Evening Standard's Oscar's First Book prize and shortlisted for the Waterstone's Children's Book prize, with a Jon Klassen appeal, Steve Antony, a debut author-illustrator, is the one to watch. 'This is a wonderful romp of a read that's a great introduction to London, royalty and all that makes Britain great.' - The Sun '... this picture book is hard to beat for its sweet simplicity and charming monochromatic drawings.' - The Times

ISBN: 9781444919158
Pub Date: 12th September 2014
Publisher: Hachette Children's Group
Imprint: Hodder Children's Books
Format: Paperback
Number of Pages: 32

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Series

This is Book 1 in the The Queen Collection Series. See all The Queen Collection books here.

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zoelowdon-nottingham Adult 4 book reviews

1st December '14

Read to children aged 4 & 6

The illustrations were amazing. The story was simple enough for my four year old but interesting enough (with all the London landmarks) for my 6 and 9 year old to learn from.

mapples Aged 3 30 books

1st January '15

mapples read it themselves aged 3 aged 3

Lovely simple illustrations. Serves as a great introduction to the London skyline and the queen. Lots of detail on some pages and lots of counting opportunities. One page needs the book rotating 90degrees to see it properly. A proper interactive read.

TCR75 Adult 335 book reviews

28th June '16

I read it to GCR13 aged 3 aged 3

We love this book because of its simplicity and knowing that even though it is such an unlikely tale, you want it to be possible!
We love going to London as a family and have visited many of the landmarks in the book which allows us to discuss happy memories and plan for more visits.
We like that the text is not arranged in the same way on each page and that some pages have different orientations. It makes for fun reading.
The illustrations are simple with only a very limited amount of colours used, but the are clear and there is no doubt about which landmark is which.

Ashbeee Adult 300 book reviews

27th May '18

I read it to Brobee aged 5 aged 5 & to Toodee aged 3 aged 3

We loved this book. The illustrations are gorgeous and it has such a fab setting. It's lovely that to linked to Prince George, what a great way to commemorate his birth and to celebrate London.

HarpsKT Adult 91 book reviews

2nd May '17

I read it to KeeratKT aged 2 aged 2

My daughter was given this book as a birthday present and we love it. The illustrations are lovely and my daughter and son were able to identify the landmarks before I got a chance to read them out. The story is great too, nice and simple. I liked how the story also ends with the hat finding its way to Prince George. A lovely book, I would highly recommend it.

Loubydoo Adult 540 book reviews

3rd October '18

I read it to Soopa aged 4 aged 4

We originally bought this book as a gift to take to our American cousins when we visited them but my daughter liked it so much we got a copy for her too. The story is simple and funny and involves lots of famous London landmarks that we know so it's a good stimulus for talking about them. It's also quite silly which my daughter loved too. Overall though it was the absolute perfect gift for our American family - they loved it!

mrsbeckie Adult 130 book reviews

19th September '16

I read it to Amelie aged 4 aged 4

We love this book, it's so full of quirky, fun, detailed illustrations. The simple story of the Queen's hat taking off in the wind takes the Queen, her corgi, al the Queen's men...and not forgetting the butler on a journey across some of the most famous London landmarks. We can read this book over and over again and still spot something new in the images...Guaard's men on mobile phones, flying boots and so much more. This proves that children's books do not need to be filed with masses of colours, children love the detail too.

clare-barnsley Adult 16 book reviews

1st December '14

Read to children aged 2 & 9

This beautifully illustrated book details (we especially liked the shiny queens men on the cover) the adventures of the queen and her men (and a corgi) chasing the queens hat all around London. They visit Trafalgar Square, London zoo, London Underground, Big Ben, London eye, tower bridge and Kensington palace. My youngest child loved the queen and her men floating down on umbrellas and the queen driving a tube train but surprisingly it was my older child that enjoyed the book most, having visited the capital on a school trip the year before. She enjoyed the story and was excited to see some of the places she had visited illustrated. It is a charming book in its own right but I would especially recommend it to people who live in, or are planning to visit London as it brings the featured landmarks alive in a gentle and charming way.

jo-from-bristol Adult 41 book reviews

1st December '14

Read to a child aged 3

This is a lovely picture book with a very simple event/ story. I think the publisher said it was aimed at 2+ which is appropriate- the pictures are lovely and feature many of the famous recognisable London landmarks which is fun, however I read it to my 3 year old and I don't think it will hold much lasting interest for him.

Storytime Blogger Adult 14 book reviews

24th July '18

I read it to Issy aged 7 aged 7 & to Lottie13 aged 5 aged 5

With sketch style illustrations to introduce London landmarks and a simplistic story about the Queens journey through London, whilst chasing her hat. We enjoyed reading this book and then researching the landmarks further. We also used the book to inspire our own drawings of London landmarks.

gayleymoo-glasgow Adult 337 book reviews

14th December '14

I read it to Matthew aged 2 aged 2

In this story you are taken on a blustery tour of London as the wind blows the Queen's hat off her head. The London landmarks are well illustrated and it is fun to see the landmarks beautifully illustrated. There are not many words but it is fun to discuss the pictures and add to the story as you go. We loved the illustrations and it was fun looking for the butler in all the pictures. Matthew does not have a lot of words yet but this book makes him shout 'run' and 'hat'!

emily-tee-from-andover Adult 3 book reviews

1st December '14

Read to a child aged 3

The Queen's Hat is a story about the Queen losing her hat, and the journey through London her and her soldiers go on to get it back. The illustrations in the book are very detailed and a joy to look at, each page has numerous soldiers with the red of their jackets the only colour on the page. It looks great. The actual story isn't so good unless your child is very aware of all of the London landmarks. However, the pictures really do bring the book to life.

pauladonegan Adult 143 book reviews

25th April '17

I read it to eric_ aged 3 aged 3

We loved the cover and the illustrations are wonderful and it's nice to go through this journey to get the Queen's hat back, but I live in London and my son still doesn't know all the landmarks they show, and there is nothing really about them in the book besides the very nice images and I didn't get how the baby pram at the end would be associated with a royal baby for a little kid, unless this was read exactly when the baby was born and if the kid would watch tv? So yes, each page is very nice (my son liked the pages of things he already knew, like the big ben and the london eye), and I love how the colours go, but I don't think there was enough there for me to even take this book home from the library. I recommend this book for kids that know all the landmarks well: tower bridge, big ben, london eye, trafalgar square, but also that won't mind a story without almost any text.

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About Steve Antony

Steve Antony is an award winning, bestselling children's book writer and illustrator based in Swindon in the UK. His 2014 debut, The Queen's Hat, won the Oscar's First Book Prize, was nominated for the Kate Greenaway Medal and shortlisted for a clutch of awards, including the Waterstones Children's Book Prize. Steve's other books includePlease Mr Panda, whic...

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