Steve Antony 8/5/14 Steve Antony 8/5/14

TWO!

'Betty Goes Bananas' (Oxford University Press)

Retweet or 'like' Twitter or Facebook posts with the 10 to 1 #BettyGoesBananas countdown to the official publication of 'Betty Goes Bananas' to be entered into a prize draw to win a signed sketch of Betty! The winner will be announced on August 7th.

Steve Antony 8/4/14 Steve Antony 8/4/14

THREE!

Steve Antony 8/3/14 Steve Antony 8/3/14

FOUR!

Steve Antony 8/2/14 Steve Antony 8/2/14

Barnardo's & John Lewis STORY TIME with The Queen's Hat & Please Mr Panda

John Lewis and Barnardo's are both celebrating their 150th anniversaries, and, as part of their celebrations, they've joined forces to create a fantastic new programme, Bringing Skills to Life. The programme uses the power of storytelling to not only encourage reading, but also to help raise finds for Barnardo's, the UK's largest children's charity.

As part of the programme, John Lewis are arranging regular Story Time events in their shops this summer.

Last Saturday, I had the privilege of holding one of these events in front of a group of children and their parents, grandparents and guardians at Peter Jones in Sloane Square, London.

I read 'The Queen's Hat', which meant that we spent time spotting the butler, the corgi and lots of other things on each page.

Even though it's not out until Jan, I also read 'Please Mr Panda' for the very first time to ANYONE, ANYWHERE (excluding my publisher, agent, family and friends, of course - and any industry folk who've glanced a sneak peek).

So, instead of drawing corgis, we drew Mr Panda and his tray of doughnuts.

The audience were great. I was impressed with thier drawings, and I did promise some of the budding artists that I'd post their brilliant Mr Pandas online, so here they are (below), along with some other pictures of the event.

I do encourage you to find out more about the Bringing Skills to Life programme, including Story Time dates, by going HERE.

For more information on Barnardo's, and to donate, go HERE.

'The Queen's Hat', published by Hodder Children's, is out in hardback, and 'Please Mr Panda', also Hodder, is out in Jan.

Thank you to Hodder, and to Barnado's and John Lewis for having me. And thanks to those that came, sat, drew and donated.

Here are some Mr Pandas!

The top one's got a bow and the bottom one's got a super-sized doughnut!

Steve Antony 8/2/14 Steve Antony 8/2/14

FIVE!

Steve Antony 8/1/14 Steve Antony 8/1/14

SIX!

Steve Antony 7/31/14 Steve Antony 7/31/14

SEVEN!

Steve Antony 7/30/14 Steve Antony 7/30/14

EIGHT!

Steve Antony 7/29/14 Steve Antony 7/29/14

NINE!

Steve Antony 7/28/14 Steve Antony 7/28/14

TEN!

The contest has begun! Retweet or 'like' Twitter or Facebook posts with the 10 to 1 #BettyGoesBananas countdown to the official publication of 'Betty Goes Bananas' to be entered into a prize draw to win a signed sketch of Betty! The winner will be announced on August 7th.

Steve Antony 7/27/14 Steve Antony 7/27/14

Mr Panda News: USA

Exciting news: Mr Panda is coming to the USA via the wonderful folk at Scholastic!

'Please Mr Panda' will originally publish here in the UK by Hodder Children's Book on Jan 1st. Look, check out this Mr Panda themed lunch at Hodder HQ!

Also, the other day, I did a reading of 'Please Mr Panda' at Peter Jones, Sloane Square, as part of John Lewis's and Barnardo's 'Story Time'. I've got some great pics here of some of Mr Panda drawings, which I'll post a little later.

Steve Antony 7/24/14 Steve Antony 7/24/14

Me & The Queen's Hat This Saturday at Peter Jones

This Saturday at 2:30PM at Peter Jones in Sloane Square, London, I'll be reading 'The Queen's Hat', as part of John Lewis's and Barnardo's 'Story Time' programme.

Set forth with The Queen, her guards and her corgi on a very windy day as they chase after her hat all over London. See if you can spot the hidden characters in their epic adventure through the capital! We'll be doing a spot of drawing too!

Steve Antony 7/24/14 Steve Antony 7/24/14

Flic Wiltshire Winner

A winner of a signed copy of 'The Queen's Hat' has been announced over on Flic Wiltshire!

Congrats, Adam! The book is on it's way to you!

Steve Antony 7/24/14 Steve Antony 7/24/14

'Window into Illustration' for Books for Keeps Magazine

I did a 'Window into Illustration' for Books for Keeps, the children's book magazine, and it's in their latest issue on 6 & 7. I chose an illustration from 'The Queen's Hat' to talk through.

The magazine also features an interview with CILIP Carnegie Medal Winner, Kevin Brooks, an interview with David McKee, and articles on children's comics for a new generation, 10 summer reads, reviews & lots more!

This really is one of the best children's book magazines around, and it's well worth a look: www.booksforkeeps.co.uk

You can read the latest issue, along with my article, online HERE.

Steve Antony 7/15/14 Steve Antony 7/15/14

The first Betty sighting!

'Betty Goes Bananas' (Oxford University Press) is officially released, and available to order online, on Aug 7th, but here is the VERY first photo I've seen of Betty in a bookshop. Here she is in the Oxford University Press book store in Oxford. Thanks to Suzanne Barton for taking and tweeting the pic.

Look who's in the shop window @MrSteveAntony pic.twitter.com/SBL1h5PWeZ
— Suzanne Barton (@suzannebarton0) July 12, 2014

PS. Check out Suzanne's gorgeous debut picture book, 'The Dawn Chorus' (Bloomsbury), HERE.

Steve Antony 7/7/14 Steve Antony 7/7/14

CONTEST via Flic Wiltshire: Win The Queen's Hat

I've teamed up with Flic Wiltshire, a local news portal, to launch a new contest to win a signed copy of 'The Queen's Hat'.

Simply like my Facebook page and then email newsdesk@flicwiltshirenews.com and tell them who you would like to give the book to and why. Read the full article at Flic Wiltshire HERE.

Steve Antony 7/7/14 Steve Antony 7/7/14

The Times reviews The Queen's Hat

My debut picture book was reviewed in The Times!

'The Queen's Hat' was one of four titles selected for age 2-5 in Alex O'Connell's summer round-up of children's books in last Saturday's paper. Here are the other three: Journey by Aaron Becker, Hermelin the Detective Mouse by Mini Grey, and Tiny, the Invisible World of Microbes by Nicola Davies and Emily Sutton. What great company to be in!

Thank you, Alex. What an honour.

Below is Alex's review of my book.

Steve Antony 7/3/14 Steve Antony 7/3/14

The Queen's Hat Review by Amanda Craig in The Oldie Magazine

Thank you, Amanda Craig, for your lovely review of 'The Queen's Hat' in The Oldie Magazine.

"Steve Antony's 'The Queen's Hat' is a timely picture-book treasure. It's exuberant illustrations of soldiers pursuing the Queen as she chases her hat before returning to a certain baby make this a rare joy for 3+ among a pile of opportunistic Royal rot. It's the best guide to London since Ludwig Bemelman's 'Madeline in London', too."

Steve Antony 7/2/14 Steve Antony 7/2/14

Congrats!

The winner of my recent Twitter contest to win a signed copy of 'The Queen's Hat' is Emma Collins! Congrats, Emma! The book is on its way to you now!

There's ANOTHER contest currently running to win a signed copy over on Flic Wiltshire. You have up until the 15th of July to enter! Press HERE for more info.

Steve Antony 6/27/14 Steve Antony 6/27/14

Just a few more days left to enter!

For your chance to win a signed hardback edition of 'The Queen's Hat', all you have to do is retweet the following tweet!

WIN signed THE QUEEN'S HAT hardback - Simply RETWEET & FOLLOW to enter. Prize draw: 1 July. #winTQH @hodderchildrens pic.twitter.com/eZM7PAXEE1
— Steve Antony (@MrSteveAntony) June 5, 2014