The Queen's Handbag

March 15, 2017
In a second wacky tale about the British monarch, Antony shows the high jinks that ensue when the queen's most precious accessory is snatched by a swan. The cartoonish queen figure and her corgi give chase through the streets of London and all over Britain, pursued by an ever growing phalanx of uniformed police officers. From London, the energetic royal and her dog drive through Stonehenge, bike to the white cliffs of Dover, fly to Oxford, parachute into Snowdonia, navigate the Giant's Causeway in a boat, catch a train past the Angel of the North to Edinburgh Castle, and ride back to London on horseback. The sneaky swan is finally apprehended at the finish line of the London Marathon. As in predecessor The Queen's Hat (2015), the police appear to be identical, but on closer inspection there are amusing variations: a druid appears in Stonehenge, the Mad Hatter rides a bike, one wears a kilt and another's in Union Jack underwear, and a camel and a panda can be found in the marathon crowd. Kids will enjoy the opportunities for Where's Waldo-style observation in the neat, repetitive colored-pencil drawings, which continue from the cover throughout the book, including front and rear endpapers. Brief closing notes on the landmarks depicted follow the caper, but they won't do much to fill in the gaps for readers unfamiliar with the geography. A jolly British lark but with somewhat limited educational value. (Picture book. 2-5)

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April 1, 2017
PreS-Gr 1-This jolly, -Where's Waldo?-style tour of Great Britain features a child-friendly queen and one of her corgis. When her ubiquitous handbag is stolen by a thieving swan, the monarch chases after him. Traveling by motorcycle, airplane, and bicycle, she goes all over Great Britain, visiting some of its most famous sites, including Windsor Castle, the White Cliffs of Dover, Oxford, and Edinburgh Castle. The monochromatic illustrations are simple yet heavily populated with figures, giving readers many hilarious details to find, such as the druidic policeman at Stonehenge, the kilted policeman performing riding tricks in Edinburgh, and the panda bear competing in the London Marathon alongside the queen, her corgi, and the criminal swan. The endpapers show hundreds of bobbies doing all sorts of silly things that will afford readers great amusement. After the story, Antony includes a brief description of each site that the queen and company visited. Some children may be confused because the verbs used on most pages correspond with the action depicted on the next spread. However, this format will create a sense of suspense when the book is read aloud. VERDICT A strong addition to most picture book collections.-B. Allison Gray, Goleta Public Library, CA

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