The Queen's Hat Reviews: WOW!
This is crazy! Thanks all, for the AMAZING reviews! Where do I even start?!
A full page review in Ireland's Echo
A review in The Times. 'The Queen's Hat' was one of four titles selected for age 2-5 in Alex O'Connell's 2014 summer round-up of children's books.
Rather than upload all the cut-outs, here are all the reviews so far. I'm so thankful to Hodder for believing in this book.
"...hard to beat for its sweet simplicity..." The Times
"...a timely picture-book treasure." Amanda Craig (The Oldie Magazine)
"A great introduction to London, royalty, and all that makes Britain great." The Sun
"Hats off to Steve Antony for creating a crazy royal caper." Ireland's Evening Echo
"A confident debut." The Illustrated Forest
"Chuckles aplenty with every turn of the page." Books for Keeps
"Deserves to become a classic." Parents in Touch
"...original, fresh, funny and beautiful." Magpie That
“...a really lovely picture book.” Waterstones buyer Melissa Cox (Down the Rabbit Hole, Resonance FM)
"A certain future classic, and without a doubt my absolute new favourite picture book!" Literary Loves
"Every British household needs a copy, whether or not you’re George’s, William’s or Charles’s generation." The Book Bag
"A truly wonderful, sometimes cheeky but absolutely essential children's book, a joyous thing indeed." Read it Daddy
"...a great addition to any book shelf, coffee table, book box, classroom…" The Bookworm Baby
"A riotous Royal romp." The Book Sniffer
"Top marks to Steve Antony who definitely deserves to be somewhat proud of his debut." Rhino Reads
"A book that grown ups (royals included) and children alike will enjoy." Emma Lee-Potter
"London in stylish simplicity." Book Witch
"In a word: Brilliant! In another: Priceless!" Red Reading Hub
"The Queen's Hat is an especially jazzy picture book that will brighten up any bookshelf." The Looking Glass
"The story is gorgeous." Charlotte Eyre POP (People of Publishing)
"The most stylish & worthwhile souvenir of London you can buy." Picture This Book
"...bears all the hallmarks of a classic." The Little Book Collector
"A beautifully illustrated book that will put smiles on many faces. Her Majesty would probably like a copy too!" School Librarian
Betty has arrived!
Look what arrived in the post this morning. An advance copy of 'Betty Goes Bananas' via Oxford University Press!
I'm so happy with the book! You really have to hold this book to fully appreciate it. It's a neat package of reds, yellows and pinks. The vignettes of Betty's mood swings sit perfectly on each page, as she takes us on an emotional roller-coaster. If you follow my work, you'll already know about this tempestuous toddler. But if you don't, here's a bit about Betty.
Betty is a gorilla. A toddler gorilla that wears a pretty pink bow and a pink and yellow dress. Betty has tantrums. Big tantrums. But luckily she's got a toucan companion to appease her anger. Poor guy. In her picture book debut, Betty finds a banana that just won't open. That's how the story starts.
So where did I get the idea? It came from one of my sketches: a gorilla in a dress about to slip up on a banana with the caption - Betty Goes Bananas - above it. Oxford University Press (OUP) loved the character (and the caption) and suggested that I explore temper tantrums as a theme for Betty's story.
I researched temper tantrums, developed Betty in a style that matched her bold personality, created a secondary 'parent/guardian' character (a long-suffering toucan), bought some banana paper, and then illustrated the story. I think it was about three weeks after my initial meet with OUP that I showed them my rough dummy for 'Betty Goes Bananas': a conceptual, brightly coloured and character-focused picture book aimed at 0+ that explores the seemingly illogical ups and downs of toddler tantrums that both parents/guardians and toddlers deal with.
'Betty Goes Bananas' is to be published by Oxford University Press on August 7th (UK). You can pre-order it from lots of online shops - just Google Betty Goes Bananas.
The Queen's Hat by Monet, age 6
Check out this masterpiece of 'The Queen's Hat' by Monet, age 6. And look at the corgi too! Brilliant. I wonder of this creative streak runs in the family - yes, it does! Just check out mum's amazing character illustrations over at www.jobyattchildrensillustrator.co.uk.
Thanks for tweeting me this, Jo! It's great to see!
If anyone else would like to share a 'Queen's Hat' drawing, feel free to tweet me @MrSteveAntony.
The Queen's Hat at the Hay Festival
'The Queen's Hat' will be riding the wind all the way to the Hay Festival on Thurs 29th May at precisely 2:30PM.
The Hay Festival is HUGE. Have you seen the star-studded line-up? Brian May, Judi Dench, Stephen Fry, Miranda Hart, Julia Donaldson, Jennifer Saunders . . . the list goes on and on and on. Many of my all-time favourite author-illustrators will be there too.
And there will be extensive media coverage. Check out the blurb from Hay Festival website below.
'There will be unprecedented BBC coverage of Hay Festival on TV, radio and online under a single banner, making the festival more accessible than ever before. The One Show will be live from Hay Festival for the first time; Martha Kearney will be broadcasting from the site; Talking Bookswill be on the road at Hay Festival for five special episodes dedicated to the festival. Presented by Razia Iqbal, the series will feature exclusive interviews with world renowned authors. Razia will also present two special editions of Best of Hay Festival that will look back at the highlights from the festival. BBC Four will also make a one-hour documentary about the festival and the book-loving town of Hay-on-Wye.'
Some of my illustrator friends will be holding events there too (like Alex T Smith and Steven Lenton) so it'll be great to see some familiar faces!
For my event, which is for 3+, we'll be going on a windy adventure with the Queen, her Royal Guards and her little pet corgi as they chase after her hat all around London. Children (and adults) will have fun trying to spot the hidden characters in the chaotic London scenes from 'The Queen's Hat'. We'll be drawing too, and (if you like) you can leave the event as a King or a Queen (courtesy of a little bit of crafty crown making). We had loads of fun with this at the Hoo's Kids Book Fest only a few days ago.
For event details and prices, go HERE or visit the Hay Festival's 'Hay Fever' site HERE for details on events for children and families. Or visit the whole site HERE. The festival will be running from May 22nd to June 1st. Come along!
Hoo's Kids Book Fest
...was awesome.
I met lots of really cool people. Twitter buddies, authors and illustrators, the friendly bunch behind the Hoo's Festival, the talented bunch that came to my 'The Queen's Hat' event and those that came to the book tent for signings, and Miffy. And it was great to catch up with Team Hodder and friends.
Upon arrival, I heard someone holler "Steve!" as I was heading off in the completely wrong direction. It was Steven Lenton. It was nice to see a familiar face so soon in the day. We headed straight towards Clara Vulliamy's event. In the Green Room I met with some of the friendly festival organisers and chatted with Zoom Rockman and his family. Then Alex T Smith and Hannah Marks arrived with the Carl Hart (and a bunch of other friendly book folk) which led to more chatting. All of this chit-chatter was a much needed distraction from my nerves. After all, it was my very first event at a festival.
There were so many fun things going on at the event! I noticed a bunny taking children on some sort of magical adventure, a monster stomping about, lots of face painting, and loads of books (of course).
The setting was magical, and everyone looked as though they were having such a good time. I really wish I had taken more photos, but lucky for me, my publisher was at hand to take some photos of my event.
I really enjoyed my event. The audience were fantastic, and it was great to see (and HEAR) the children respond to my book. I think my favourite bits were when the children shouted out "BUTLER!" whenever they spotted the Queen's loyal friend who's hidden on almost every page of the book. The crown making seemed to go down well to Lots of very creative crowns were made. My corgi drawing was a little dodgy, and one of the children rightly pointed out that it looked more like a pig.
I had a wonderful time. Thanks Hoo's Kids Book Fest, and thanks to those who came. I only wish I allowed myself more time to see some of the other events.
Who's going to the Hoo's Kids Book Fest? Me.
The Hoo's Kids Book Fest is THIS Sunday at the historic Luton Hoo Estate. There is a fantastic line-up of authors and illustrators, loads of exciting things to do, and lots of fun areas to explore.
I'll be there too, so if you fancy taking an impromptu tour of London with clambering guards, swinging monkeys and one determined, daredevil Queen, then pop in to the Awesome Action Tent at 3PM where I'll be holding an event based on my picture book, 'The Queen's Hat'.
We'll follow the Queen, her Royal Guards and her excitable corgi on an epic London adventure in hot pursuit of the Queen's windswept hat. I'll also talk a bit about how the book came to be, draw a bit too, and to top it off (quite literally) we'll be designing our own crowns - that way everyone can leave as a king or a queen (or a crown wearing pirate, or a princess mermaid, or a lizard king or a . . . ).
And if you like, you can take away some colouring-in pages that I made especially for the event.
There are lots of cool authors and illustrators going to the festival. Just check out awesome the line-up HERE, and find out how to get your tickets HERE.
CONTEST ALERT!
I'll be meeting one lucky winner of a signed copy of 'The Queen's Hat' at the festival via a competition currently running over on Fatherhood² Henry's Blog right NOW. Click HERE to find out more!
A peek at one of the more chaotic scenes from 'The Queen's Hat'. Can you spot the chameleon?
Who doesn't love a bit of colouring-in?
Magpie That
Salute.
Here's a little something I did for Magpie That, a fantastic website that has lots of cool book trailers, reviews, videos, interviews, picture book blogs and all things related. It's also been voted a Top 100 UK Educational Bog by UK Ed Chat, and it's not hard to see why.
A brilliant site, and if (like me) you like picture book awesomeness, then you need to go check it out: magpiethat.com.
You can also follow the magpie on Twitter.
Please Mr Panda
It turns out that this blog post is by far THE most visited page on my site, so here's all you need to know about Mr Panda, including links to activities and lesson tips.
'Please Mr Panda' (or 'Please, Mr. Panda' in some territories) was published at the end of 2014. The response has been incredible! It was Barnes & Nobles' Children's Book of the Month and read in over 640 of their branches at the same time across the States for their first Story Time event in January 2015.
The Times
Mr Panda's big reveal at Bologna Children's Book Fair in 2014. Photo courtesy of Martin Salisbury
The Times chose it as their Children's Book of the Week in December 2014. It's had fantastic reviews by The New York Times, School Library Journal, The Bookseller, Kirkus, and lots of blogs have featured it, including Buzzfeed and Huffington Post.
But what I've loved the most is when people have that lightbulb moment and 'get' the story, especially at events - which can be really fun. The responses have ranged from complete befuddlement to laugh-out-loud hysteria. But one thing is for sure, Mr Panda always gets his point across - which is, if you want one of his doughnuts, you had better say PLEASE!
The hashtag #pleasemrpanda is being used on both Twitter and instagram. Some of the photos have been hilarious and very sweet, too. Below are just a few.
I've had some lovely emails and tweets about the book. One parent contacted me to say that 'Please Mr Panda' was the first book her son was able to read and understand all by himself, despite his learning difficulties.
Some children even dressed up as Mr Panda for World Book Day (below).
But it seems as though Mr Panda is not just for the kids. 'Please Mr Panda' was voted 'book of the year' by a high school in the States.
And the bookstore displays I've seen (below) have just blown me away.
I've written a blog about Lesson Tips here.
I've got activity sheets here.
Here's an interview where I talk about how being red-green colour-deficient has heavily influenced the way in which I approach colour for all of my books, including 'Please Mr Panda'.
Scroll down for the 'Please Mr Panda' video trailer, or press here.
'Please Mr Panda' (or 'Please, Mr. Panda') is available in the States, Canada, UK, Australia and lots of other countries. It'll be translated into several languages, including French, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish and Korean.
The book's available in most bookstores, I think. It's recently been made available in Target in the States. Or you could just buy it online or borrow it from your local library.
Thank you for visiting my site! Please feel free to have a look around. Below are a bunch of Mr Panda photos and tweets. Speaking of tweets, you are welcome to tweet Mr Panda photos to @MrSteveAntony. I'll be sure to retweet. I'm on Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr, too.
Mabel's Fables book store in Toronto
Tales on Moon Lane's doughnut-y bookshop window in London.
Peters Booksellers in Birmingham, UK. Amazing!
At Barnes & Noble in New York. An unforgettable experience.
"Would you like a doughnut?" Please, Mr Panda off to school on #WBD2015 @MrSteveAntony pic.twitter.com/RxIQpnPkBS
— Non Pratt (@NonPratt) March 5, 2015Sometimes I wish I taught elementary. Mostly because of books like this. https://t.co/k9sYKDjZ4Q #pleasemrpanda #scholastic
— K.Vann (@Kris10Vann) February 22, 2015"That's the CUTEST panda I've ever seen!" -1st grader after seeing Please Mr. Panda for the first time @MrSteveAntony pic.twitter.com/eJHpYnmffi
— Teresa Dolan (@dolanreads) February 5, 2015PLEASE, MR PANDA by @mrsteveantony is an instant favorite. Out now from @scholastic. #tlchat #kidlit https://t.co/1mig5dowDV
— Matthew C. Winner (@MatthewWinner) February 2, 2015RT @hodderchildrens: .@MrSteveAntony's Please Mr Panda is in good company on the @Waterstones bestseller list here! pic.twitter.com/bh2kLa0bE7
— Rebecca Logan (@bookshop_becky) January 30, 2015Think #pleasemrpanda might be my little girls new favourite book! @MrSteveAntony @PetersBooks @hodderchildrens pic.twitter.com/9O9Dy7lXqK
— Marketing Mummy (@marketingmummy1) January 28, 2015This panda has stolen my heart.
#NationalReadathonDay #PleaseMrPanda #SteveAntony @Scholastic pic.twitter.com/62tGfOUmNB
— Samantha Berger (@BergerBooks) January 25, 2015@MrSteveAntony @HodderBooks Would Joe like a doughnut? He's a boy after your own heart (+ donut) #PleaseMrPanda pic.twitter.com/rbOHPQe51K
— Catherine O'Dolan (@lillondonlife) January 23, 2015My cat could star in #pleasemrpanda pic.twitter.com/GKzBvJhXzn
— emily smith (@emilystickmen) January 22, 2015So excited about our Please Mr Panda window! Yes, those are real doughnuts! @MrSteveAntony @hodderchildrens pic.twitter.com/v6VPCFQdF4
— Tales on Moon Lane (@talesonmoonlane) January 9, 2015#PleaseMrPanda We love pandas, donuts, making hats, and stickers...perfect storytime today at B&N. pic.twitter.com/oOIswrptfC
— Janine Eng (@JanineEB532) January 10, 2015Picked up the little gem at the bookstore today... @MrSteveAntony PLEASE MR. PANDA. #B&NPictureBookoftheMonth pic.twitter.com/amlIzWsyYc
— Kim Lynn Price (@KimLynn_Writes) January 21, 2015The Picture Book of the Day pick is Please, Mr. Panda! @Scholastic #pbotd #kidlitchat pic.twitter.com/qAJtkLockL
— GrowingBookbyBook (@growingbbb) February 25, 2015@MrSteveAntony @hodderchildrens @jk_rowling @BloomsburyBooks Mr Panda meets Hermione Granger #WorldBookDay pic.twitter.com/yoGKmBklMm
— Jo Byatt (@JoanneByatt1) March 5, 2015@MrSteveAntony the staff enjoyed them, gone in 2 seconds. Here is student work, the prek kids loved your book. pic.twitter.com/LFcDrYRpu0
— Mrs. Gargula (@BetancesLMC) February 20, 2015
Wilts & Glos Standard Competition: TEN signed books!
Photograph courtesy of the Wilts & Gloucestershire Standard
The location was prime, the weather was typically British, and I remembered my pen.
Last Thursday, I had a top secret meeting with Wilts & Gloucestershire Standard at Octavia's Bookshop in Cirencester - The Bookseller Best Independent Children’s Bookseller 2013 - to talk about my picture book debut with Hodder Children's Books, 'The Queen's Hat', and to plot a HAT-TASTIC contest to win one of TEN signed copies.
Photograph courtesy of the Wilts & Gloucestershire Standard
Love Cirencester. It was my home for years and I studied at Cirencester College for a year, so it was so cool that the Standard contacted me about a feature & contest. The contest idea was theirs and I knew it was a perfect because The Book Sniffer held a similar contest last Thursday, which was a LOT of fun.
To find out exactly what I'm talking about go read the Wilts & Gloucestershire Standard!
ONE day until THE QUEEN'S HAT! "SWOOOOOOOSH!"
One of 10 things I drew that happened OUTSIDE of 'The Queen's Hat' to celebrate the countdown to the book's publication.
Not even the Red Arrows could keep up with 'The Queen's Hat'.
'The Queen's Hat', published by Hodder Children's Books, will be out on May 1st. Pre-order online or at your local bookshop!
ONE day until publication!
CONTEST: As part of the 10 day countdown, you can WIN one of six signed Royal Guards. Just tweet this blog post @MrSteveAntony with the hashtag #TQHcountdown or 'like' my Facebook posts with #TQHcountdown hashtag. The more you like or tweet, the more chance you have of winning. Names will be put in MY hat and picked randomly. Three Facebook 'like' winners and three Twitter 'retweet' winners will be announced on my Facebook and Twitter the evening of May 2nd.
TWO days until THE QUEEN'S HAT! "Run, Boris, run!"
One of 10 things I drew that happened OUTSIDE of 'The Queen's Hat' to celebrate the countdown to the book's publication.
The Mayor of London is not in 'The Queen's Hat', but if he was . . .
'The Queen's Hat', published by Hodder Children's Books, will be out on May 1st. Pre-order online or at your local bookshop!
TWO days until publication!
CONTEST: As part of the 10 day countdown, you can WIN one of six signed Royal Guards. Just tweet this blog post @MrSteveAntony with the hashtag #TQHcountdown or 'like' my Facebook posts with #TQHcountdown hashtag. The more you like or tweet, the more chance you have of winning. Names will be put in MY hat and picked randomly. Three Facebook 'like' winners and three Twitter 'retweet' winners will be announced on my Facebook and Twitter the evening of May 2nd.
THREE days until THE QUEEN'S HAT! "Salt and Vinegar?"
One of 10 things I drew that happened OUTSIDE of 'The Queen's Hat' to celebrate the countdown to the book's publication.
These guards are not in 'The Queen's Hat'. They had fish and chips, and free WiFi.
'The Queen's Hat', published by Hodder Children's Books, will be out on May 1st. Pre-order online or at your local bookshop!
THREE days until publication!
CONTEST: As part of the 10 day countdown, you can WIN one of six signed Royal Guards. Just tweet this blog post @MrSteveAntony with the hashtag #TQHcountdown or 'like' my Facebook posts with #TQHcountdown hashtag. The more you like or tweet, the more chance you have of winning. Names will be put in MY hat and picked randomly. Three Facebook 'like' winners and three Twitter 'retweet' winners will be announced on my Facebook and Twitter the evening of May 2nd.
FOUR days until THE QUEEN'S HAT! "Is it a bird? Is it a plane?"
One of 10 things I drew that happened OUTSIDE of 'The Queen's Hat' to celebrate the countdown to the book's publication.
Is it a bird?
Is it a plane?
No.
It's the Queen!
'The Queen's Hat', published by Hodder Children's Books, will be out on May 1st. Pre-order online or at your local bookshop!
FOUR days until publication!
CONTEST: As part of the 10 day countdown, you can WIN one of six signed Royal Guards. Just tweet this blog post @MrSteveAntony with the hashtag #TQHcountdown or 'like' my Facebook posts with #TQHcountdown hashtag. The more you like or tweet, the more chance you have of winning. Names will be put in MY hat and picked randomly. Three Facebook 'like' winners and three Twitter 'retweet' winners will be announced on my Facebook and Twitter the evening of May 2nd.
FIVE days until THE QUEEN'S HAT! "Wait for me!"
One of 10 things I drew that happened OUTSIDE of 'The Queen's Hat' to celebrate the countdown to the book's publication.
He wasn't dressed in time to be in 'The Queen's Hat'.
'The Queen's Hat', published by Hodder Children's Books, will be out on May 1st. Pre-order online or at your local bookshop!
FIVE days until publication!
CONTEST: As part of the 10 day countdown, you can WIN one of six signed Royal Guards. Just tweet this blog post @MrSteveAntony with the hashtag #TQHcountdown or 'like' my Facebook posts with #TQHcountdown hashtag. The more you like or tweet, the more chance you have of winning. Names will be put in MY hat and picked randomly. Three Facebook 'like' winners and three Twitter 'retweet' winners will be announced on my Facebook and Twitter the evening of May 2nd.
The Book Sniffer holds crazy Queen's Hat Comp on Twitter
The Book Sniffer @maybeswabey is holding a really funny #hatcomp over on Twitter RIGHT NOW. I've been laughing all morning at all the photos! The winner gets a signed Big Ben print (from 'The Queen's Hat'). Just for fun, here's me wearing a sombrero, a visor and a cat that wouldn't be a hat. Thanks to The Book Sniffer for holding such an entertaining and engaging contest on Twitter - it's fantastic to see people having such a laugh with their hats (and 'hats'). Hats off to the pug! I'll post more about this later.
SIX days until THE QUEEN'S HAT! "I've already got a hat."
One of 10 things I drew that happened OUTSIDE of 'The Queen's Hat' to celebrate the countdown to the book's publication.
In between pages, 'The Queen's Hat' briefly landed here.
'The Queen's Hat', published by Hodder Children's Books, will be out on May 1st. Pre-order online or at your local bookshop!
SIX days until publication!
CONTEST: As part of the 10 day countdown, you can WIN one of six signed Royal Guards. Just tweet this blog post @MrSteveAntony with the hashtag #TQHcountdown or 'like' my Facebook posts with #TQHcountdown hashtag. The more you like or tweet, the more chance you have of winning. Names will be put in MY hat and picked randomly. Three Facebook 'like' winners and three Twitter 'retweet' winners will be announced on my Facebook and Twitter the evening of May 2nd.
SEVEN days until THE QUEEN'S HAT! "Zzzzzzz."
One of 10 things I drew that happened OUTSIDE of 'The Queen's Hat' to celebrate the countdown to the book's publication.
Larry and Freya, Chief Mousers to the Cabinet Office, are not in 'The Queen's Hat' because they were catnapping.
'The Queen's Hat', published by Hodder Children's Books, will be out on May 1st. Pre-order online or at your local bookshop!
SEVEN days until publication!
CONTEST: As part of the 10 day countdown, you can WIN one of six signed Royal Guards. Just tweet this blog post @MrSteveAntony with the hashtag #TQHcountdown or 'like' my Facebook posts with #TQHcountdown hashtag. The more you like or tweet, the more chance you have of winning. Names will be put in MY hat and picked randomly. Three Facebook 'like' winners and three Twitter 'retweet' winners will be announced on my Facebook and Twitter the evening of May 2nd.
EIGHT days until THE QUEEN'S HAT! "But what about MY hat?"
One of 10 things I drew that happened OUTSIDE of 'The Queen's Hat' to celebrate the countdown to the book's publication.
The Queen's Swan is not in 'The Queen's Hat' because he was chasing a hat of his own.
'The Queen's Hat', published by Hodder Children's Books, will be out on May 1st. Pre-order online or at your local bookshop!
EIGHT days until publication!
CONTEST: As part of the 10 day countdown, you can WIN one of six signed Royal Guards. Just tweet this blog post @MrSteveAntony with the hashtag #TQHcountdown or 'like' my Facebook posts with #TQHcountdown hashtag. The more you like or tweet, the more chance you have of winning. Names will be put in MY hat and picked randomly. Three Facebook 'like' winners and three Twitter 'retweet' winners will be announced on my Facebook and Twitter the evening of May 2nd.